The Hunger
by Darkest Original
Summary: Chloe left 3 years ago, but why? What does this have to do with a new powerful vampire rising to claim the title of Queen? Now what happens when you add in a new order of EG coming back to rule the supernatural world? T for swearing and violence.
1. What?

The Hunger

An: Sorry that I got this chapter out to you guys so late but this last weekend I took my bronze cross and what time i spent not seimming was spent sleeping. But i passed and now i can get this to you guys.

This story is not going to be beta read, so please excuse some of the mistakes but I'll try my best.

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers.

Summary: Chloe left 3 years ago, but why? What does this have to do with a new powerful vampire rising to claim the title of Queen? Now what happens when you add in a new order of EG coming back to rule the supernatural world? Derek didn't tell Chloe his feelings and she didn't tell him that she likes him too. _(Italics from The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong - pg.384)_

Chapter 1 – What?

_Mr. Bae's van was parked a mile away in a shopping mall. He'd bought it a month ago, using faked paperwork, so It couldn't be traced back to him, and it looked like he'd been living in it, He threw his sleeping bag and a cooler into the back and we all climbed in._

_I don't know where we ended up. Pennsylvania, I think. No one asked. No one cared. It was a really long, really quiet drive. I was in the back with Aunt Lauren, and even though I noticed Derek glancing back at me anxiously every now and then, I soon feel asleep to the murmur of Simon and his dad in the front seat. _

_I woke up when Mr. Bae pulled into a roadside motel. He got two rooms and we split up, guys going in one, girls in the other. _I had just finished talking to Tori and was about to go back inside the hotel when a huge shadow rounded the corner. I looked up from where I was sitting and saw Derek standing there with a grim look in his eyes.

I looked at him questioningly but all he did was make a motion that told me to follow him. I slowly rose, "I'll be back, just give me a minute." I said to Tori before following him into an open field out behind the motel.

He stopped when he thought that we were far enough away from being overheard and turned to face me. I almost took a step back at what I saw in his eyes, or should I say, lack of what I saw in his eyes. The piercing emerald green of his eyes looked hard, like they could cut diamonds. I couldn't see anything else, it was like a wall was built in his head and he was back to the jerk that he was at Lyle house.

"Yes, Derek?" I say, trying not to let my concern coat my words.

He shook his back and forth almost disbelievingly, "What you did back there with Davidoff was stupid."

I was shocked at his words and could only blink my eyes for a few minutes before speaking, "Excuse me?"

Derek's mouth lightly tugs up at one corner but not as a half smile, as a smirk. "Davidoff could've seen Mrs. Enright and then shot your Aunt, did you think of that? You should've left that situation for someone else, instead of risking others lives."

Okay, now I'm not shocked anymore, now I'm angry. "Risking people's lives? I did what I did so that we all could get out alive. Derek you have a weak argument. Davidoff wouldn't have let us go, so I did what I could do instead of you or Kit risking your lives to physically attack him. Talk to me when you have a better argument, but for now drop it because Davidoff is dead and we don't need to worry about him."

I turn on my heel and stalk back to the motel, not caring that Derek is calling for me to listen to him and to come back. As I approach the motel, I see that Tori isn't where she was before; she must have gone inside to talk to the others.

I just enter the motel lobby when the front desk phone rings and I jump at the sudden noise. I ignore it and keep walking towards the elevators. I'm just about to step inside the doors when the lady at the front desk says, "Chloe Scott?"

I pause in my journey and turn to look at her. I guess Kit decided to use 'Scott' as our last name for now. She says, "Yup here she is, one minute." Before covering the mouth piece of the phone with one hand and using the other hand to wave me over.

The lady looked to be in her sixties, smiling blue eyes with crow's feet on the edges and a happy smile. I smile back at her before taking the phone that she handed to me. Luckily it was a cordless phone so I took it from her and didn't say anything into the phone until I was across the room.

"Yes?" I say looking into the fish tank that I was standing in front of.

"My name is Drake Hunter and I have some…interesting news for you." His voice sounded slightly rough, almost like he hasn't had to use it for a while now.

"How can I trust you, and what news are you talking about?" My voice sounded strong and steady even though I didn't feel strong right now. All I wanted to do was eat something and go to bed.

"You don't know you can trust _me_, but just trust that the _information_ that I give you is true." He put more stress on two words and I had a feeling that they were important.

I was about to continue but then Derek walked briskly into the lobby, barely noticing that I was still down here. I didn't say anything until the elevator that he was in, rose to the second floor.

"Go on," I say slowly.

"You need to be at the 99th floor of the Empire State building in New York City in six days. When you get there, there will be a receptionist there. Tell her that Drake sent you and she'll let you up."

"Okay, but why do I need to do this?" I stretch the first word out.

"Because you will die in seven days." He says it so simply that for a second I think that we're talking about a movie.

"W-w-what? How?" Is all that I can stutter into the phone.

"You will no longer be a mortal, you will be a vampire." A vampire? But why?

"Why?" I whisper into the phone.

"You will find that out once you come to the address I gave you." He is still speaking simply and almost coldly, like he has done this before and my reaction doesn't affect him.

"But what about my family and friends? What will they be told? Can I tell them?" I ask still whispering because I still don't believe it.

"You friends and family will be fine, but will think that you are dead." My breath whooshes out of me on a long exhale and I almost forget to inhale again. "And you must not tell them, no matter what."

"Okay," I squeak out. Then I hang up the phone, looking down at the floor and trying not to cry.

I can't die, not yet. I still have so much that I want to do yet, like graduate, direct movies, fall in love and see my dad again but I know that I don't have enough time for those things.

I sit there thinking about all that I still want to do when I think of something Drake said – six days. I have six days to do what I want to do. What can I do in that time? I decide to think it over when I'm in bed tonight and move across the lobby to give the front to the lady at the front desk.

I must be subconsciously blocking some of the fact that I'm going to die because there is no way that I would be this calm under normal circumstances.

I slowly walk over to the elevator and wait for it to come down. I see myself reflected in the metal and I look defeated. I try to get that expression to not show as much but it's no use because I still feel like everything has just been pulled out from under me.

I let myself sink into autopilot, barely remembering the ride to the second floor and the journey to the room that Kit said the girls would be staying in.

I stop and get off of autopilot and knock on the door, luckily Tori is asleep and only Aunt Lauren is awake still. Aunt Lauren opens the door and then goes to sit on a chair by the window.

"So what was the phone call about?" Aunt Lauren asked from where she sat, looking out the door.

I know that I can't tell her, so I think of a lie quickly. "Oh, it was a customer satisfaction thing that the lady downstairs asked me to do. Sorry if I took too long." I know that the lie wasn't good but it was all that I could come up with.

"It's fine, you going to bed?" Aunt Lauren asked still looking out the window. I don't know why she was, the view wasn't that nice, all you could see was the parking lot. Unless that was the point, so that we can keep a look out for anyone looking for us.

"Yeah." I mumble before climbing into the bed across from Tori and thinking about what I want to do for six days.

I could be friendlier to Tori and try to get her to be my friend, and get her to open up to others more. I can tell Kit how much I appreciate him letting me stay with him and the boys for the short time that I was here. I can tell Aunt Lauren that I love her and that when the whole Edison Group and St. Cloud thing is over, she should go back home and back to her job.

I could ask Kit if I could just tell my dad that I was okay and that I love him before he never sees me again. I mean, dad would have seen me sooner or later but now he'll never see me again. I'd tell Simon to keep drawing and doing what he loves. To keep being a good friend to others, to try not to kill Tori and to keep the group together. And finally I'd tell Derek to keep protecting everybody but not at the price of his own life. That he should take care of himself and to keep Simon and Tori from killing each other.

During the next six days, I'll be more confident and stutter less. And I'll make a fake letter about why I'm leaving, that would probably be better for everyone because I know that the gang will try to get me to spill about the real reason why I'm leaving. And it would be too hard to leave with the last expressions that they would have would be of anger, understanding and sadness. How will I leave? Pretend to be kidnapped or tell them that I want to go home? Do I tell them a bit of why I'm leaving or just lie? Can I lie? How will I leave? I can't walk, so I'll have to steal a car.

As these questions swirl around my head, I know one thing for sure. I will have to leave them, either on good terms or not.


	2. Goodbyes

AN: I do not own Darkest Powers.

Chapter 2 – Goodbyes

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><p>I finally manage to fall asleep, but it was a restless sleep. I kept tossing and turning and dreaming of how my new life will be like.<p>

I had visions of good times, like friends that were in the same situation as me or being able tobe human for a while longer and speak to my friends more.

Bu then there was the horrifying ones too. Ones that gave details of how I would be changed, blood leaking out of me, the taste of the dead blood from the vampire that would change me and the sudden sharp pain of the vampire snapping my neck. Or the ones were I would be picturing myself hunting innocent humans, and the feeling of draining their life energy into my body.

I would wake from each of these horrifying dreams in a cold sweat with the sheets twisted around my legs. Then I would spread the blanket out, hoping to slow my beating heart. Sometimes I would think that I had made quite a bit of noise because Tori would stir from her side of the room, when I would sit up suddenly. But then she'd go back to sleep and then I'd try to fall back asleep, hoping for nice dreams or no dreams at all.

"Chloe," A voice murmured and for a minute I thought that the flower in my dream was talking. "Chloe, Chloe." The voice was more persistent but I still didn't want to wake up yet.

I heard a whoosh through the air before something soft hit me in the face. I jumped slightly and my eyes flashed open in shock. There standing above me was a sleepy eyed Tori with a pillow pulled back behind her head, almost as if she's ready to hit me again.

"Yes?" I say ready at any possible moment to protect myself from Tori and the pillow.

"Come on, Kit just called a meeting." Tori said before standing up and walking out the door.

I sighed before getting out of bed, brushing a brush through my hair and pulling it up into a messy bun. I didn't even change my clothes because I was too lazy to.

I walked over to the boy's room and was about to knock but then the door opened in front of me. Derek stood in the entranceway and the noise of conversation floated to meet my ears.

I stepped past Derek and the dropped unceremoniously into a chair beside Tori. My head lolled to side and I rested it on my left hand while trying to stay awake.

"Okay then, now that everyone is here, I'll start this meeting." Kit said and I glanced at the clock that was to the right of his head for a second. It read 10:46 and for a moment I was shocked that I slept in that late, but then I remember that I barely got much sleep last night.

"Now what we did at the lab, it'll put the Edison Group back for a while but they will recover from it. That means that we will still need to be on the run and I have a question for the girls. Do you guys want to stay with us while we're on the run?"

Aunt Lauren didn't even hesitate before answering, "Yes that would be best for us."

I took note of the fact that she answered for both of us, like she automatically assumed that I would agree with her. I mean on this subject I would, if I didn't need to leave but she can't always do that for me.

"Yes, I'll stay here with you guys and Tori will come with us, right?" I glanced at Tori to see if she would get mad at me for asking a question she should have asked but instead she just smiled at me.

"Of course, now I think that we should lie low for a while and then move to a new safe house out in Oregon." After that I blocked out what was being said and just let myself rest for a moment.

The next six days passed by quickly but each with me struggling not to break down and cry; on the same day Kit had the meeting, I found a computer and checked how long it would take to get from Philadelphia to New York City. It would only take 3 hours by bus and I checked the fairs to make sure that I would have enough money for the ride and for a night at a hotel. I was just about to close down the window when a shadow passed over me. I quickly shut down the window but I knew that Derek had seen it.

He had asked me what I was doing and I replied, "I might need to know someday." Before quickly escaping anymore questions by finding Tori out by the pool but I knew that he would confront me on the subject one day.

On the third day I said my goodbyes to Aunt Lauren, Kit and my dad, thankfully. I had asked Kit if I could just call my dad to tell him that I was safe and to tell him to take down the ransom and he agreed with me. When I called him, he was so shocked that I called him that he just kept asking if I was alright. I snapped at him after he asked me if I was alright for the twelfth time and told him that I wanted the ransom taken down. He wasn't happy about it but obligated and I told him that I would always love him before listening to his reply and hanging up.

I told Aunt Lauren that and I quote 'she was the best aunt I could've ever asked for and I was so thankful that she helped me through all of the Edison mess.' She just replied that I was the best niece she could ask for and that she didn't mind helping me as long as I got out of everything alive. I winced slightly at the last word but smiled through it.

As for Kit, all I told him was that I was extremely thankful that he helped us out so much and that he was a very good person. Kit had tried to wave away the compliment but I said it again with more meaning and I thought that he might've blushed slightly.

The fourth day, I just relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of having a large caring family and the peace that I could have for a little while.

It was on the fifth day that I finally spoke to Tori and Simon.

I spoke to Simon first because, well, Tori was a closer friend to me. I had found Simon in the guys' room working on a drawing instead of outside where I thought he'd be. I'd asked him what he was drawing and he said that he was still continuing drawing our adventures so far and I left it at that. We had sat in silence for a few minutes before I told him how thankful I was that he was my friend and that he tried to make me feel normal while at Lyle house. Simon looked so happy at what I said but I thought that I saw a little bit of confusion in his eyes. Confusion at what though? That I was telling him all of this or maybe he was confused that what I said sounded like a goodbye.

Over the last couple of days, Tori and I had grown much closer. Which was going to make leaving just that much harder on everybody. I was sitting on my bed with a piece of motel paper, and the motel pen, wondering about what I should tell them in my goodbye note when Tori walked in. I decided to use the opportunity to tell her that she was the strongest person I have ever met. I then continued to tell her how I admired her strength at staying calm, her intelligence with Andrew's computer and her loyalty to her friends and family.

I could tell that she was about to interrupt me but then I added that she was one my four best friends. She had asked who the other three were and I just replied Liz, Simon and Derek. She then hugged me as tight as she could and I did too, knowing that it was probably my last hug from her.

I noticed that every time I was saying goodbye to someone Derek would be around the corner giving me questioning looks but then I'd escape to find something to do. I knew that he didn't know exactly what I was doing; he just had a vague idea because he never yelled at me or questioned me, until the night I left.

It is the fifth night and I decided to leave when everyone was asleep instead of in broad daylight. I had packed only the things that I would need to remember everyone before pretending to get ready for bed.

Aunt Lauren and Tori were already in bed and just about to fall asleep when I finally got into bed. I had nothing to do for an hour or two so I pretended what life would be like if I didn't get that stupid phone call.

The gang and I would've defeated the St. Cloud's and I would've gone home to be with dad. I would like to pretend that he got a less demanding job but I know that that will never happen but I can pretend. I would go to the University of New York and get some sort of degree before starting my directing career. I pretend to be a famous director that everybody looks up to and I would have a happy family with a loving husband.

I like to think that I keep in touch with the gang and see them whenever I could but I'd never know.

Two hours had finally past and I quietly put the note that I had written for everyone on my pillow. I had written:

_Dear Tori, Simon, Kit, Derek and Aunt Lauren._

_I know you're probably wondering where I am but I can't tell you that. Just know that I'm safe._

_I know you're probably remembering all that I told you guys this last week and are probably guessing that it was a goodbye. You're right. I knew that if I told you all I was going, I'd never be able to leave even though I have to._

_I love you all and I will miss you but please don't look for me. Go out and defeat the Edison Group, maybe I'll come back to help. Now I have something to tell all of you guys: _

_Simon – keep drawing and find a cute girl! I know I would've liked her. P.s. you'll always be my friend._

_Tori – I'm sorry I had to leave my best friend but know that I'll always have you as my friend._

_Aunt Lauren – I love you and please tell dad that too. _

_If you guys see Liz sometime in the future, tell her that she is my best friend and that she was the best poltergeist I will ever know. And that I'm sorry that I couldn't tell her this in person._

_Kit – I never really got to know you all that well but still I'll miss you and keep leading the group with many smart decision and choices, please. _

_Derek – I know that I never told you goodbye but that was because you'd figure it out. I'll miss you when I'm gone and just know that I'm extremely thankful for all the times you helped me when I was in trouble while we were on the run. Again thanks for helping us all when we were on the run and thinking all of our decisions through. Ps. I consider you, like Simon and Tori, to be my friend. And don't sacrifice yourself when there's another way! Keep yourself safe!_

_-Love always, Chloe._

I left my room and got on the elevator with my backpack, silently hoping that nobody wakes up and follows me. I get out of the elevator and am about 10 feet away from the hotel when someone grabs my wrist. I stiffen and silently hope that it's not who I think it is.

I slowly turn around and stare straight into the eyes of an angry - no, livid - Derek.

I wait for the yelling but all that comes out is a very controlled sentence, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Can't tell you," I reply and tug my wrist out of his hand.

Derek crosses his arms over his chest, "Really? Then explain why you're going?"

His sarcasm is very heavy and I reply quickly. I was going to tell the truth but then I lied, "It's in the note that I left on my bed. You can go back and read it while I stay here."

"Nope, I'm taking you with me."

"Nope, I'm not going to go with you. I'll just slow you down and then I'll miss my cab." I didn't tell him that I was taking the bus because then he'd try to find the bus station that I would be at.

I watched as the internal battle raged through Derek's head. On one side, something was telling him not to go because I'll just run – which is true, and on the other side is the part of him saying that he knew me well enough not to leave while he read the note.

I would've done the second choice if the situation was different, but I know that I'll have to leave as soon as he's in the hotel.

I desperately hoped that he would just go so that I wouldn't have to say something that wasn't true. I know that if I did say something like that then if I ever do come back, he won't trust me. Or worse, ignore me completely, and I don't think that I could handle that. I mean he's some on I like and trust.

_Yeah, like-like. _Stupid inner voice, I'll have to get rid of that.

I don't, for any better term, like-like Derek. He's just a friend that has helped my other friends take down a group of evil scientists.

_Then why didn't you tell him your goodbyes to his face?_ Shit! I didn't get rid of the voice.

To clarify, I didn't tell Derek his goodbyes to his face because I knew that he would figure out what I was doing, right?

I shook my thought off to hear Derek say, "You stay here while I go and read the note."

I watched in complete and utter silence as he slowly turned away from me and briskly walked back into the hotel.

I waited a second before turning around again and running full tilt in the opposite direction.

I was about to go in the direction of the bus stop but then I remembered Derek's sense of smell. I used the technique we used before to get away from Liam. I walked until I found a puddle, walked past it and went into the nearest store, which happened to be a restraunt. I walked back out and tried to follow my path from before precisely, and then I stepped into the ice-cold puddle that sent ice needles stabbing into my feet.

As soon as I got out of the puddle I walked a block with the wind blowing lightly on my back before turning to my right for 2 blocks. I then turned right again and walked the next five blocks to the bus stop.

The bus stop has three glass walls but two of the three walls are covered in maps. The bench looks alright from 20 feet away but as you get closer, you can see the worn paint and the old look it has to it.

I don't sit down for fear it will break but instead lean against one of the poles that hold the glass up.

My foot taps impatiently because I know that Derek will soon be able to find me so I keep hoping that the bus will come around the corner soon.

I glance at the clock on the other side of the bus stop and watch the seconds pass by slowly. Ever so slowly. It's like they're taunting me. Tick tock, tick tock. I knew that the bus would come by at 10:50 but then I added traffic time, and longer stops. Then I took a couple of minutes off for less stops and going a little faster. Since I grew up in New York State and travelled with my dad, I knew how to work the transit systems.

Sometimes this is good, like knowing when to leave you hotel to make the bus or waking up at a certain time to get ready for the day. Sometimes this is bad because in other states or other cities, my calculations can be off by a lot.

I hear the screeching of the tires before I even see the bus, so I wait for a few seconds before pushing off the pole and looking down the street.

I stand patiently and when the bus stops in front of me, I put on a small smile even though I'm worrying about what's going to happen like crazy.

I make polite conversation with the elder bus driver and then go and sit in the middle of the bus. I've learned from being on the run to not draw attention to yourself. So I don't sit in the very front or very back, I pretend to be a normal kid and try to relax. My eyes sting with tears and I force them back, but I know that they won't stay back for long.

I push all questions from my mind but I feel like I'm being watched. I look out the window but all I see is a mess of dark hair and bright green eyes down the block before the bus pulls away. I turn back in my seat and keep thinking _don't look back, don't look back_. Because I know that if I do I'll just miss everybody so much more and start regretting not telling them I'm leaving to their faces. I bite my bottom lip hard, trying to force myself into not looking back and to keep the tears away.

But despite all my reasoning, I look back and lock eyes with Derek's glowing green eyes for probably the last time.

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><p>AN: Thank you to all that reviewed last chapter. I really love writing and it's nice to know that my words and ideas are good. If you have any contructive criticisim to give, please do. It makes me strive to be better.<p>

The next chapter should be up sometime next week. Please leave a review.

-Darkest Original


	3. Now

Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers, Kelley Armstrong does.

Thank you for the reviews but this chapter I want more than one. Can we do that?

Here's the new chapter.

Ch.3 – Now

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><p>It's been three years to the day since I last saw any of my family. Three years. I have always considered them to be my family and sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I forget where I am and expect to see Tori sleeping in the bed across the room.<p>

But then when I'm more coherent, I remember who and what I am and the fact that I've been gone for three years.

Right this moment I'm sitting on the window seat of my huge room. Looking out the window I watch in silence as the rain pours from the sky above. I can smell the fresh rain from where I'm sitting two stories up, due to my enhanced senses.

Confused? Let me explain. It all started the day that I left Philadelphia for New York.

_*Flashback*_

_I had gotten to the Empire State Building after a restless night in a rundown hotel. I had taken the elevator up to the 99__th__ floor because there was no way that I was going to walk all the way up there._

_I had stepped out on the floor and was immediately greeted by the receptionist. I told her why I was here and I was escorted to a door. I had walked in slowly, trying to see Drake before he saw me. But he was turned towards me, leaning against the large oak desk behind him. His sandy blonde hair falling into his eyes and his brown eyes so dark they almost look black. He is muscular but doesn't have too many muscles like some people do._

"_Hello, I'm glad to see that you got here on time." Drake came out of his leaning position and walked towards me. _

"_Yeah, didn't want to die on a bus before I got here." I said, sarcasm dripping from each word. Drake laughed for a bit at my poor joke before becoming serious again. _

"_Welcome to New York City, now since we both know each other's names why don't we start with questions." Drake moved to sit in the chair behind the desk and I reluctantly moved from where I was and sat in one of the chairs opposite of him. _

_I opened my mouth to ask one of the millions of questions burning in my head but Drake cut me off, "Actually there is no time for questions. Just know that I have to do this."_

"_Wha-" I begin to ask a question but then Drake disappears. _

_Literally._

_One second he was in front of me in his chair and the next he was gone. I turned my head to look behind me when someone spun my chair around._

_I looked up and what I saw tore a scream from my throat. The skin under Drake's eyes had its veins more prominent and fangs were showed in a vicious snarl. I only screamed for a second before a hand was placed over my mouth. _

"_You can't scream, just now that I have to do this." Drake barely finished the sentence before I felt something tear into my throat._

_Now I've seen many vampire movies so I knew that it was Drake's fangs that tore into my throat and not a knife. _

_I could feel my blood being drained from me and I tried hard not to think about it. What felt like hours, was probably only minutes before Drake pulled away. His mouth was covered in my blood and for a moment I thought I was going to puke. _

_I began to feel the after effects of my blood being taken and felt faint. I watched as Drake bit his wrist and handed it to me. I don't know what came over me but I took his wrist without hesitation, and didn't allow myself a moment of disgust before I drank some of his blood. Now I'm not going to say it tasted like chocolate but it was appealing. _

_Drake pulled away from me and a minute and placed his hands on either side of my head. With a whispered "I'm sorry," he twisted my neck sharply in his hands. All I heard was a snap before welcoming the darkness. _

_*End of Flashback*_

When I woke up from my death, Drake explained to me that I now was half vampire and half necromancer.

He said that strong necromancers do not live past their twenties and the very strong necromancers – me – die before their twenties. He said that he knew when I was going to die because he had a witch keep track of my death day. So either way, I was going to die on that seventh day. Either by someone killing me, my body giving out on me or an accidental death.

Drake then continued to explain that the stronger the necromancer the stronger the vampire part of you is. I had learned that because I was 'dead' now I had a stronger connection to the dead, so it was easier to summon spirits and I almost never needed to take off my necklace.

My necklace is a darker purple now and is still always with me. I had asked Drake if I still need it and he said that I would need it more now than before. My 'glow' is now stronger, so more ghosts can find me if I don't have my necklace on. Since its color has turned darker, it is much stronger at keeping my glow at a small level and only a few ghosts visit me.

One day while I was summoning, Drake had come back from a council meeting and told me that because of my extreme powers and strong personality I was chosen to be the new vampire Queen.

And then the training started.

First they started just helping me build more muscles since I'll need them in fights. And then they showed me the cool stuff. How to use your speed to come up behind your opponent, kick their knees out and pull their arms behind their back.

Drake has taught me to use different weapons and taught me to always have some kind of weapon on me even if it's a pocket knife. I've learned to shoot all different types of guns and how to figure out which is the best weapon to use in each situation.

Since that lesson, I've always carried a pocket knife in the hidden pocket of my pants. I had those pockets made for just that and I'm thankful for it.

But my favorite move is when I take a running start and jump onto an attacker. I'd wrap my legs around their neck and then swing my upper body down past their waist. The movement I created would flip the attacker onto their back but I'd let go before they hit the ground and land on one knee. I love that move, but I need to work on it more. I keep over flipping myself and landing on my stomach at the end.

One night after my practice, I asked Drake if I could call my family. He got this really weird look on his face, almost half guilty and half sad. He had told me not to freak out, which I raised an eyebrow at before telling me that I can't talk to any of my family members.

I had asked why and now I kinda wish that I had stayed oblivious. Drake then told me how my family believed that I had died in a fire at the hotel I had stayed at. Drake had reassured me that no one got hurt and that they had to get rid of all evidence of me even getting to the Empire State Building. But I didn't hear anything after 'fire' because I zoned out. I remember faintly asking how my family knew and Drake said that he pretended to be the hotel manager and told my dad and then my aunt. He said that they had both asked if there was any body but he said that there was nothing left of the hotel. I hid inside myself, mourning the death of the old me and the fact that no one that I know will ever get to see me again.

After a couple days though I had come out of my shell and began training again. I have learned that I can lock away all vampire aspects of myself and I'd appear as only a necromancer. I can lock away my immortality, speed, hearing, and the urge to drink blood into a box in my mind. I've only done this a couple of times and I _hate_ the feeling of being human without my superior senses. But I can keep some of my senses out, like my hearing and speed because during my three years I decided to age so that I'll be the age that I would be in the human world, nineteen.

The stories and movies about vampires have little truth to them, we still do have heartbeats and we aren't cold to the touch. The only thing they did get right was the fact that we have fangs but only when we get really mad or very hungry. We do live forever and we do drink blood but most vampires that I know prefer to drink from blood bags.

I still have my strawberry blonde hair, but it doesn't make me look like a kid anymore. I've grown a couple of inches, thank gosh. And my eyes are still the blue that they were when I was a human.

I walk downstairs and headed into the living room to get the daily report on all supernaturals from the coffee table by the couch. I sit on the couch and open the folder.

I've always been watching the supernatural world, it's my job, but I've taken a little more interest in what the gang is doing now.

I know that about a year after my 'death' the gang took down the St. Cloud's and Cabal's without much help. Kit had called in a couple of friends to help but they had taken the St. Cloud's and Cabal's very easily. I never figured out if they had Liz to help them or if they've seen her at all these past years but I keep trying. I also try to keep track on where they are but Kit is very good at making fake documents, but I'm better.

I have also been keeping track on members of the Edison Group, and St. Cloud's and I've been seeing that they are trying to rebuild in secret. I don't know their motive quite yet but I think it would be along the lines of revenge against anyone who ever fought against them.

A quick knock at the door shakes me out of my thoughts but before I could answer the door, it opens and in walks Drake. Ever since Drake changed me and had to train me, we've become good friends. He's the only one that really gets what I'm going through and knows when to speak and help with my problems and when to leave me to my thoughts.

"Hey, Chloe," Drake calls out as he enters the house and walks towards where I'm sitting on the couch.

"Hey," I mumble out still trying to shake myself from the fog that remembering the past always puts me in.

"You ready to go to training?" Drake asks quietly.

"Yeah," I say trying to sound upbeat and happy. But from the look on Drake's face, he can tell that it's an act. "Give me a minute to change, kay?" I barley wait from him to nod before running up the stairs and walking into my room. I pull on some black spandex shorts and my favorite dark purple tank top with my Nike runners.

I run out of the house barley getting out a, "Coming?" before the door shuts behind me and I'm running to the opposite end of the community. We live in a community here so that we don't have to hide ourselves if we live in a city. All of us here are vampires so we don't need to worry about 'The Hunger' coming on us if we smell spilt blood.

'The Hunger' is a fancy term for craving blood. Against popular belief, most vampires don't drink from living people. We are much more civilized than that. We give money to hospitals for research and in return they give us all the blood bags we need. Usually we only need to have one blood bag every two days but if we go through intensive training or a big fight then we need a blood bag a day until we're healed or back to our usual strength.

I get to the gym and begin to start my stretching when Drake comes in.

"Don't stretch, we aren't doing physical training today."

"What? But today is physical training day and not power day."

He waves vaguely behind him and says, "Council orders." I nod my head in understanding.

The Council is a group of twelve of the oldest vampires in the community. They are the ones that make the rules in this community and give Drake the schedule on what to teach me. This has happened before so it wasn't anything new. I haven't actually met any of the Council members but whenever I ask to Drake just says that I will eventually.

Drake sits down across from me and takes in a deep breath before speaking. "Chloe have you noticed that it is very easy to do most of the exercises we do and that your necromancer abilities are pretty much at the height of their powers?" He gives me a moment to nod my head in confusion before continuing, "Your training is at the highest it can go, and most people who try your training will die because of the mental and physical strain on the body. This means that you're almost done with training."

I stare off into space for a few moments letting all of the information sink in. "If I'm almost done my training that means…" I trail off letting Drake confirm my suspicions.

"Yes, your ceremony to be queen will be coming up in a few weeks."

"But if I become Queen looking as I do, then people will recognize me. Won't they?"

Drake chuckles a bit while shaking his head back and forth, "We've had to do this before Chloe, and we just change your appearance. Not a hard thing to do."

"But what about my scent? If I ever see Derek he'll know it's me."

"We have ways to get around that don't worry. Besides you won't need to leave for a while yet."

I pause for a minute still trying to digest the fact that in a couple weeks, I'll be a Queen.

"Ok, anything else?" I have a feeling there is something else to this but I don't know what.

"Yes," Drake says slowly. "In a few days you will be at your most powerful and will be able to control at least three bodies at once and at the most six. Right now you can only control 4 at the most but you'll get there."

Drake pauses again and I can tell that he doesn't really like this next part.

"Just tell me Drake, I can handle it." I say softly.

"Oh, I know you can," He says under his breath and I'm confused at his statement.

Drake takes another deep breath and says, "When you get your maximum powers, you'll be able to take out the St. Cloud's and Edison Group on with a little help. You can use some of the more powerful people in each supernatural race to help you but you won't need a whole army to help you."

Before when I was first told that I would be queen I thought that my world had changed forever but now I know that I was wrong. Now my world has changed. I just don't know if it's for the better or worse yet.


	4. Queen

AN: I do not own Darkest Powers.

Ch.4 – Queen

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><p>It's been two weeks since Drake told me that I was almost at my most powerful. Now I have reached full power and can fully control six bodies at once, but I'm not sure when I'd use that fact.<p>

A couple of days ago I read in a report that the Edison Group is looking for powerful vampires and that gave me an idea. I just figured out that I can make fake vampires that look and act like real vampires but are completely loyal to me and only me. When someone 'kills' them they disappear from reality after five minutes of pretending of being a corpse. But what I like most about the fake vampires is that they can send any information they get straight to my brain and I write it down. All of this information has helped me figure out how many people are helping the EG, who they are and where they live. And also any plans that they have and the layout of every EG headquarters.

I have built my plan of how to get rid of the Edison Group off of all that info but only have a basic action plan so far. Drake's been helping me with the plan since he's better at doing this like that and because he has planned his number of battles.

"Chloe?" Drake calls out as he opens the door to my house. He heads towards my office which is in a room hidden behind a moveable bookcase.

"In here," I call out, knowing that Drake will be able to find me.

I hear the sound of gears clicking and then the swoosh sound of the bookcase giving way to the entrance to my office.

"Yeah?" I ask Drake, not looking up from the picture I have of Kit, Simon, Tori, Derek and Aunt Lauren in the motel that we stayed for a couple days in Philadelphia.

"I just wanted to remind you that you have four hours until the ceremony and that you should wear something nice."Drake said, while moving over to the chair in front of my desk. He sits back and puts his feet on the edge of my desk, crossing one foot over the other. Now I would usually push his feet off with teasing words but I don't feel like it today.

Oh yes, the ceremony. The day has finally come were I will be crowned Queen and will start my mission soon. For days, vampires have been flying into the community and staying in the quest houses, waiting until the ceremony. I haven't been allowed out of my house because in the past there have been attempted assassinations of royalty before they are crowned. I think everyone is overreacting but I can see their point and don't make too much of a fuss.

I will stand in front of every vampire in the world, take my vow and then be crowned with my new name. Right now I'm supposed to be thinking of a motto that everyone will know me by but I can't seem to think of one.

"Chloe," Drake says waving a hand back and forth in front of my face. "Where did you go?"

I roll my eyes and laugh off his question, "Nowhere, I'm right here."

Drake drops his hand back to his side and rolls his eyes at my answer. "So do you want to go over the plan again?"

As soon as I am crowned Queen, I will be escorted back to my house and will lock my crown in the safe in my office. I'm the only one with the code, the day that the gang and I defeated one of the Edison Group headquarters, is the code. Then as soon as the crown is locked away I will begin to pack to be ready to move across the country to ask for help in the final war.

"Yes," I say. Might as well get it as fresh in my mind as possible.

"When you leave the community, you will be speaking to every powerful supernatural in each race. I have the names and current locations of all those people in this folder here," Drake holds his hand up and reveals a plain white but thick folder. "When you have everyone that will help you, you will call a meeting and make strategies and then will come back here to gather the vampires. Then you will meet with everyone and make the attack against the Edison Group. Clear?"

"Crystal," I reply while trying not to think about everything that could go wrong with that plan.

"Here, you might want to look it over before you go to the ceremony." Drake says before dropping the folder on my desk and silently leaving the house.

I stare at the thick white folder for a couple minutes, not moving an inch. I'm not sure why but I have a feeling that I shouldn't look in there. Bu it's just a folder and there won't be a gruesome axe murder jumping up from the other side of my desk as soon as I open the folder.

I watch _way_ too many movies.

I reach out a tentative hand and quickly pull the folder towards me. I take in a deep breath and open the cover. The front page is blank but when I turn to the second page I see a list of every supernatural race, in alphabetical order, with the names of the top supernatural in that race underneath their title. I skim the names and locations and stop at one that catches my interest.

Sorcerer.

Automatically I think that it would be Simon until I think of his powers. Simon never had very strong powers and always fit in with the world more naturally than other supernaturals would be. I quickly read the name and am disappointed that it isn't someone that I knew from before this life.

My phone starts buzzing on top of my desk, indicating that I have a message. I glance at it and debate whether I should open it or not. I really want to find out who is the top supernatural in every race but then again, the text message might be really important.

With a heavy sigh I reach for my phone and grumble when I read the message. I slowly go upstairs to my room hoping to delay this as long as possible but as soon as I open the door; I'm shoved in the direction of the bathroom.

Becky, one of my new friends, helps me loosely curl my hair before pulling half of it up and leaving the other half down.

I've never really liked getting ready for huge events before I found out I was a necromancer but now I loathe them. I strongly believe that you can do more good learning about the world, or strategizing instead of playing dress up but I'll have to suck it up this time since it's my ceremony today.

Becky leaves the room so that I can dress and I step into the deep purple dress and pull it up my body. The dress is strapless and has a tight bodice before flowing out at the bottom. Little gems dot the dress, making it look like the night sky. The fabric swooshes as I twist to see the back of the dress. I pulled the zipper up about halfway before I couldn't reach it anymore. I ask Becky to help and she helps me zip the dress up and then hands me my black peep toe pumps.

**(Pic on profile)**

I take one deep breath before looking into the mirror before me. My strawberry blonde hair looks wonderful with the deep purple dress and all I need to complete the look is my necklace. I had taken it off when Becky did my hair and left it on the sink. The necklace rests right below the hollow of my throat and I feel better knowing that it is on me.

Becky steps in front of me and says, "Remember, controlled stride, step from the heel of your shoes to the toes, keep your back straight and chin up. Keep your expression neutral and whatever you do, do not trip over that lovely dress. And have fun." Becky smiles reassuringly at me and I can't help but smile back. She just has that effect on me.

We slowly go downstairs and into my office. In the corner is an opening that drops down beneath the house. It was put into the house right after I moved in and I was told that it is a passage to both the council hall and a safe house out in the forests in the middle of New York State. The Council didn't want me to get ready in the council room since it isn't as protected as my house but they wouldn't let me just walk down the streets in my dress so the only other option was the tunnels.

The good thing about the tunnels was that they are cleaned monthly of dust and are made of cement and not dirt.

We take the left route and head towards the council room, when we get there Drake is waiting for us and helps me up the stairs. The Council room is rectangular and every wall has an overflowing book self against it. There are even more books on the coffee tables and floor beside the chairs and couches, each having something to say about our supernatural world.

I begin walking over the nearest stack of books before I'm pulled by Drake towards the door. Ever since I learned what I am now and the fact that I have to take down the EG, it's like my body is magnetically pulled towards more and more knowledge.

Drake lets go of his hold on my elbow and instead grabs my hand. He opens the door and walks down the hallways before turning into a door on the right.

"This is the back entrance to the throne room, Chloe. As soon as you go into that door, every vampire will be watching you and wondering what will happen next. What you need to do is keep your head held high and repeat after the eldest Councilman. Did you think of a new name for yourself and slogan?" Drake says, looking deeply into my eyes.

I smile at him, my eyes saying _I know what I'm doing; I can handle it _but my mouth saying, "Yes."

"Then go ahead," Drake steps back and motions to the door.

With a deep breath I straighten my back, tilt my chin up a little and put an emotional mask over my face. Opening the door, the sounds of people whispering and moving in anticipation reach my heightened ears.

All the whispers end when I take one step onto the stage. The door is on the far right side of the stage so I walk forward before turning towards the eldest Councilman who is standing beside my throne.

The next few moments passed by in a blur of motion and sound all around me. But what I clearly remembered was the elder Councilman placing the crown on top of my head after I finished my promises to my species. A deep sense of joy and pride flashes through me at finally completing the first leg of the long journey.

I was sitting on top of my throne smiling at everyone who was clapping for me when all of the members of the Council came up to me with a microphone and a plaque that I had signed a couple of days ago.

Every queen has to sign her new name – since they all had to change their names – and their saying that they will go by. I had thought about the name for quite some time before finally coming up with a good one. It was the same thing with the saying except I heard something in a song one day that gave me the idea.

I grab the microphone and take a deep breath before announcing my name that will be known across the supernatural world. "Thank you all for coming tonight, that means a lot." I pause and try to remember what Drake said. Oh yeah, thank them and then get to the point without saying you're getting to the point. I smile at them all and say, "My name is Adriana Katerina Nyssa and you should always cherish yesterday, dream tomorrow and live today."

They all burst into applause and cheer and soon I'm rushed off the stage and into the tunnels once again. I can't wipe the smile off my face no matter how hard I try until one stray thought enters my mind, the gang would've been so happy for me if they'd've know. That knocks the smile away pretty fast and my eyebrows furrow as the thought keep bouncing around inside my brain.

Becky has me wrapped in her embrace the moment that she can and is practically vibrating in excitement. The moment we are in my house she is literally bouncing up and down squealing.

"I'm so happy for you Chloe! Oh, I mean Adriana. Nice name by the way, I couldn't have thought of that." Becky says, "Now let's get you out of that dress and then you can pack."

I nod my head and head upstairs. Soon I'm out of my dress and it is put back into my closet. Becky had left the house ten minutes ago, knowing I needed space to let this fully sink in.

I open a secret compartment behind my mirror and quickly open the safe. I set the crown down on the cushion and then at top vampires speed, type in the date that the gang and I knocked the Edison Group of their feet.

Putting the mirror back, I turn away from it and grab a handful of tee shirts and jeans. I put them in my deep red suitcase before reaching for my shoes. My hand freezes in mid air as I hear something being picked up and then be put down again. I take a deep breath, smelling hints of dust, the smell from dinner lingering in the air and my laundry detergent. Nothing smells out of the ordinary but I know for sure that I did hear something move in the house. But how can that be when I can't hear any heartbeats or footsteps?

My first mistake that night was ignoring the odd noises around the house. Like the floor boards creaking downstairs while I'm upstairs and the window opening after I had just closed it.

The second mistake was brushing off these facts as coincidences though I should know by now that in my life there are no such things as coincidences.

A huge crash sounds throughout the house and I'm out my door and moving to the sound of the crash before my brain can completely register what I'm doing. I come upon a shattered plate that had most likely been thrown against the wall due to the paint scratch on the wall.

"Whoever is in this house, come out and show yourself!" I shout to the open air.

"I never thought that Chloe Saunders would say that," a voice said from behind me.

I whipped around and saw one of the people that I thought I would never see again. She was leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed, still wearing her Minnie mouse night shirt and her giraffe socks.

"Liz!" I shout and run towards her, meaning to give her a hug before I realize that I would just go through her. She looks the same as the last time I saw her three years ago, long blonde hair and youthful face. Not what you expect from someone who's been dead from over three years and has seen what she has.

"It's been a long time Chloe." She said and righted herself. Her face is impassive and for a moment I wonder if she is angry with me.

My mind fills with questions and I blurt out the first important one, "How'd you find me?"

"Chloe, you should know me better. When I heard of a new vampire 'queen', that was part necromancer and a strong one too, I decided to check it out. I mean what else can I do in my after life?" She asks walking around the room, her voice as hard as steel.

I'm frozen in shock. In my many dreams of meeting the gang again, I always believed it to be a happy reunion but I guess I deserve the coolness from pretending I was dead and hiding for three years.

"You know we miss you Chloe, so much. Everybody does. Your aunt hasn't spoken to your dad since your fake funeral. Simon and Tori were a mess without you. I understand Simon being like htat but I never thought that Tori would be so affected. Kit tries to be strong but I know that he puts up a very convincing mask when people are around. Derek blames himself for not seeing through your lie and dragging you back to the hotel that you guys were staying at and talking some sense into you." Liz stops her movement and turns to face me, her eyes full of accusations.

I snap at the look in her eyes, "Don't you get it? I had to leave them like that or they wouldn't have let me go! I was going to die a week after we defeated the Edison Group either way! I thought that I should just let them know what they meant to me and give them some advice and not let them see me suffer."

Her eyes widen in shock at my words and I lower my voice some, "It hurt Liz, knowing that you guys all thought I was dead but I couldn't go back. I had a duty here to do and I couldn't just give up, especially after they saved my life."

Tears filled my eyes. What if she never forgives me for leaving? She has to understand, she's my friend. What if she hates me and just showed herself so that she could tell me that she hates me? What if she tells the rest of the gang that I'm alive and know where they are? They would hate me completely; I have no doubt about that.

"I miss you guys too." I whisper on a shaky breath.

Liz's voice is still as hard as steel when she answers. "Is that so? You seem to be having quite a fun time here? Have you even thought about all the shit we've been through with the Edison Group?"

My eyes flash to her in shock, "Yes! I've been keeping track of you guys this whole time; I'm doing this so that I can help everyone." I yell at her.

"Then why did you just leave us a note instead of explaining what was happening?" She asks.

I ignore her question, instead asking one of my own, "How did they contact you Liz?"

She picks up an old book on poltergeists that I had left open and starts thumbing through it. "They got another necromancer to summon me and then told me what happened to you. Was any of that even true?"

I nod my head slowly, "Liz, I missed you and I'll explain everything. Just listen to me." I beg.

She spins on her heel, her eyes blazing, "How can I trust you?"

"I know you can't trust me but at least understand my reasons for going." I sit down on my desk chair and slouch back.

I start from the beginning. I tell her about the phone call and how Drake told me that I would become a vampire and that my family and friends would think I was dead. Then I told her about getting closer to Tori even though it would hurt us both more when I was gone and telling everyone about how much they meant to me. And how much it hurt to leave them and having to break Derek's trust in me.

I choked on sobs when I told her how Drake killed me and I could tell that Liz was holding back sobs too. I told her about how I was watching everyone's lives in the community and how I knew that the Edison Group was coming back together.

"What are you going to do now?" Liz asks cautiously.

"Now, I have to find the people that are the most powerful of each species and ask them to join the war." I stand up and grab the folders and my iPhone which holds pictures of my family and friends in a locked folder.

"I missed you all so much Liz but I'll understand if you don't want to see me again. But if you want to come with me you can, always." I say while throwing the duffle bag onto one shoulder.

I can tell that she is struggling to decide, so I wait patiently until her face becomes determined. "I'll come with you," Liz says with the first genuine smile I've seen in over three years. "I need to have some fun anyway and I need to get to know this you."

I let out a huge sigh of relief and smile gratefully to her. I let lead her out of the house, making sure that I locked the house before leading her to the house car that was ready for me to take to the private airport.

All too soon we are on the private jet and flying towards Huston, Texas to meet up with most powerful shaman the world has seen in over two hundred years.

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><p>AN: Thank you for all of the reviews from the last chapter. This chapter was very fun to write and I hope that you like the chapter. The dress picture is on my profile for you guys to check it out. My next update will be sometime next week and then after that I won't update until the new year since I will be gone.<p>

-Darkest Original


	5. Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers.

Ch.5 – Reunion

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><p>Slowly, I step out of the airplane and take a deep breath of the cool march air. At the bottom of the staircase Liz is waiting for me.<p>

This scene seems familiar but that might be because I've done this eleven times already. I get off the plane and then find where the most powerful supernatural being of whichever category I'm looking for at that moment, lives. Then I talk to them discreetly about the war and get their phone number at the time. But incase that they have to quickly move and get rid of their phones; I gave them one of our abandoned town houses numbers. Then when the call goes through, it will be recorded and then the message will be sent to both Drake and myself.

I've already talked to the shamans, werewolf pack up higher north than I am now, the warlock in Africa, and the necromancer in Western Canada. I've found the skin-walker in Eastern Europe and the fire, tempestras, telekinetic and teleportation demons across Asia and Africa. And I just came from South America to speak to the Vision and ferratus demons that live there.

Now the only supernatural being I have left is the witch and imagine my surprise when I found out it was Tori. I am happy that she has controlled her powers enough to be considered so powerful but upset that I will have to lie to them.

On the plane ride to New York, I dyed my hair a dark brown. I know that Derek will be able to smell the hair dye but hopefully he won't recognize me.

Liz rode with me in the taxi to my new apartment but before I got out of the taxi, I locked my scent away inside my head. I don't want it to waft around New York for Derek to be able to smell and then get suspicious.

My apartment is close to the university that Kit enrolled Simon, Derek and Tori in so that I don't need to get a taxi every morning. I know that Kit's house in on the East side of the university while mine is on the West. I already had it furnished because I think that I will be staying here for longer than the two or three days that I was at the other supernaturals houses.

This time I want to get to know Tori, Simon, Derek and Kit and see who they are now. Have they changed in the last three years? Have they taken my advice? Do they worry about the Edison Group coming back? The questions spin around and round my head, not stopping for a moment.

Once inside the apartment I walk towards the nearest bedroom and collapse on the bed.

The next morning I stumble out of bed and towards the kitchen. Someone had made breakfast this morning and usually I would be suspicious since I'm the only one living here. But I know that Liz probably made my breakfast. You can't get a friend better than Liz, one who accepts the wrongs you've done and helps you in your missions.

I collapse on one of the chairs in yesterdays clothes and chug down the fresh coffee that is waiting for me. "Thank you, thank you." I tell Liz between gulps of coffee.

She chuckles at me, "You should go get ready. School starts in forty minutes and you don't want to be late."

My head snaps up and panic rushes through me. Does she mean that she isn't coming with me to my first day? It may seem childish but I would like a friend there with me. Especially one who can keep me calm and make sure I don't blow my cover.

I open my mouth to protest but then Liz smirks at me, "Don't worry, I'm coming with you. I mean, who's gonna keep you company?"

I let out a sigh of relief and look back down at my coffee, "Thanks Liz."

I hurry upstairs to take a quick shower and then let my hair air dry while I'm getting dressed. I put in the really dark brown contacts that are used for my cover and pull on a red tank top with a warm black zip-up hoddie on top. I pull on some comfy jeans and make sure that my necklace is resting against my skin underneath my clothes. I grab my new messenger bag with my brand new textbooks and pull it over my shoulder.

I hurry back down the stairs and the walk to the school is cold and familiar. This is so normal, much more normal than anything I've done in a long time. It feels a little odd that this is so easy, I keep waiting for someone to shot at me or chase me down but it never comes.

The school is a huge two story building that looks like a 'U' from above. On all of my classes are on the east side while most of Simon's and Derek's are on the west side. I'm supposed to spend more time with Tori so that's why more of my classes are with hers. I'm not sure what they are studying or which degree they are trying to achieve but maybe I'll ask them that later.

I'm a little late so there are people hurrying to and from all over. Liz stays by my side the entire time and we walk in comfortable silence. I soon get a headache from all the noise but I try to distract myself into ignoring it. It doesn't work.

I hurry to my first class and see that Tori isn't here yet. I grab a seat in the far back left corner, giving me two exit points, a view on everyone is the class and the door that Tori will come through. Five minutes before class starts she walks into the classroom and grabs a seat beside the door, probably looking for a quick getaway.

I glance at Tori out of the corner of my eye and see that she has really grown up. She's grown like me and still has the same short, spiky black hair. She takes out an expensive laptop and sets it on the desk. Her brown eyes flash around the room, taking in everyone and all the exits. Just like Kit taught us during that one week. Even sitting down with layers on I can tell that she still has the slender figure from the last time I saw her.

The next three classes pass with me quickly looking at Tori and jotting down coded notes about how to plan to take out the Edison Group.

During lunch I could finally talk to Liz without it being suspicious. "If this is boring you Liz, than you can go do something else. You know where I'll be."

She shakes her head back and forth. "No, I'm not leaving you and besides being a spy is fun." She jokes.

Soon lunch is over and I only have two classes left. I don't know how Simon, Tori and Derek can stand school after being on the run. It seems like anything they teach us here is so unimportant. At least when I was in the community the last three years I learned stuff that was useful and interesting.

I walk into advanced math and my eyes are drawn to the tall figure sitting in the chair a couple seats to the left of the door I entered. Even though my eyes stayed glued to him, my feet moved me towards a seat directly across from him. I notice that he has grown and that his face is clear of the acne since the last time I saw him. He is wearing a black shirt and dark jeans with his black hair hanging into his eyes. I start willing him to turn and look at me, just for a second, so I can see his entire face.

My eyes snap towards Liz who is standing in front of me, waving her arms wildly to catch my attention. "What are you looking at?" she asks.

I don't dare to respond vocally instead I meaningfully look towards Derek.

"Oh, he's changed after three years hasn't he?" Liz asks, pointing out the obvious.

I'm still looking wistfully at Derek, wishing he would at least glance at me. Liz must have picked up on what I wanted because, before I can stop her, she is walking towards Derek, writing on a piece of paper on his desk. I don't know what she wrote but Derek nods and then writes down a response. Liz looks at me, winks and then writes something else on the piece of paper. I don't have time to wonder what she wrote before Derek looks at me.

My eyes lock with his green ones. I notice that his eyes have hardened even more than before but there is wisdom there too. His eyes swiftly change from boredom to hope and lastly to suspicion. Derek must be wondering why I would look so much like 'Chloe' and probably hoped that I was her for a moment. He snaps his head back down to the piece of paper and writes furiously on it. He must be asking Liz why she told him to look at me.

I let out a breath that I wasn't aware I was holding and turn back towards the lesson.

My next class happens to be one with both Simon and Tori in it. Again, I don't speak out loud or make any move to talk to them. I just watch them silently. Simon has the same spiky blonde hair but to my happiness, he is holding a girls hand. And not Tori's. I'm not quite sure who the girl is since I never thought to look her up but I can tell that she is beautiful. I grab a piece of paper and write _who is the dirty blonde haired girl with Simon_ to Liz.

Almost immediately she writes back. _Her name is Lisa and she is Simon's girlfriend of two years. Tori and Derek don't like her._ I nod my head to acknowledge that I understand. I know that Tori and Derek don't trust easily if you don't push them so Lisa must not try to get along with them.

I get out of my seat before class ends to go and get a coffee. The late night last night is catching up with me and I need the caffeine. I get a black coffee from the tiny coffee shop and ponder going back to class. It will give me some more time to see Tori and Simon even if I can only see them. But I will probably not be able to make it back before the lesson is over and then I'll have to go home anyway.

With a sigh I hurry back to the building, hoping to at least get one more look at Simon or Tori. I grab the door knob and begin to pull it towards me when the door is pushed from the other side. I stumble back to get away from the fast moving door and feel my coffee start to tumble from my hands. I lurch for it but instead manage to knock it towards the person coming through the door. I didn't think to put a lid on the coffee but now I'm regretting that. The scalding hot coffee splashes into the person's bright white t-shirt and black jacket, leaving stains almost immediately.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean it." I say nervously, hoping not to start stuttering. This entire time I was watching the coffee flying through the air but now I look up and my eyes widen. It's just my luck that Tori walked through that door and I spilled my coffee on her.

"Well thanks for that. Can't you be more careful?" She snaps at me and I rear back in shock.

"Come with me," I say and grab her hand, dragging her towards the nearest washroom. She follows me reluctantly, probably warring the ideas of getting some of coffee out and getting home sooner to actually wash it.

I grab some paper towel and quickly wet it under the tap before dabbing it on her shirt. "Look, I'm really sorry about this. It's my first day and I was tired during class so I got some coffee before going back and then I ran into you."

"Urg, just hurry up. I want to go home and actually wash this." I know that I shouldn't feel hurt because Tori always had this protective layer surrounding her but it still hurt.

With the lack of sleep and the nervousness of it being my first day along with hoping that Simon, Derek and Tori don't figure out who I am, I snap. "Look," I say and throw the paper towel down onto the sink ledge. "I really am sorry about the coffee but it will come out, it's not that big of a problem. I just had the worst day and I really don't need your attitude, if you want me to wash your shirt myself then I will but I will not take your fucking bullshit."

She stands there in shock before shaking out of it, "Well, it seems that the little girl has grown some balls."

"I've seen and done things that no one should ever need to see or do. I know when to stand up for myself and to protect myself." I inform her in a calm voice but I'm still feeling the effects of my anger. My pulse is racing in my ears and a dark haze has covered me vision.

Tori put one hand on her hip, "Well you got my respect for sure and that's a hard thing to come across."

To the left of Tori is Liz smiling hugely and giving me big thumbs up. I hold in my giggle but am still slightly surprised at the little amount of time it took Tori to respect her. "My name is Adrianna Katerina, and yours?"

"That's a nice name, my name is Victoria Bane but call me Tori or I might need to hurt you." Tori threatened.

"Of course," I say with a laugh, "As long as you call me Andy, all of my friends do."

Tori gives me a small smile and then checks the time on her phone. "Look, I gotta go. My brother's going to be pissed off if I don't get to the car soon."

"Sure, I'll walk with you." I tell her and open the bathroom door for her.

She leads the way to the parking lot in silence and when we get there I can tell Derek is pissed off. He has his arms crossed in annoyance and he is glaring Tori down. Simon isn't in the car yet and Tori is to be having a glare down with Derek. Well, at least some things don't change.

I walk with Tori all the way to the car and then stand there awkwardly. I know that I should speak up but I'm not sure if they will recognize me.

Tori must feel my awkwardness because she speaks up, "Derek, Simon this is Adrianna Katerina and she is responsible for pouring scalding hot coffee on my shirt." Tori teases and nudges me with a smile.

I smile back at her, "That's only because you opened the door on me." I look at Simon and Derek and see that they are shocked. I guess Tori never jokes with anyone she just met. "Call me Andy or I'll be forced to hurt you."

Simon puts his hand out in a hand shake and smiles at me, "I'm Simon, it's nice to meet you. I apologize if my sister said anything rude to you; she is only rude with new people."

I smile back at him, "Nah, so far she's good once you get her respect." I say flippantly.

I glance at Derek and see that he is staring intensely at me. Just from one look at his eyes, I can tell that he knows something is up and is going to try to figure it out. Damn, it's just going to be that much harder to get connected into their lives if Derek is suspicious.

I pull out my phone and pretend to look at the time. "Damn, I better get going; my friend is coming over soon. See you Tori; maybe I'll see you in class." With that I walk away but keep an eye on their conversation.

"_Derek! Can't you be a little friendlier?" Tori said._

"_Why should I? You barely know her." Derek pointed out. "For all we know she could be part of the Edison Group."_

"_She's the first person I want to be friends with since Chloe died." Tori says bluntly._

_There is a sharp intake of breath which I'm guessing came from Simon before Tori speaks again. "Look, I'll do a spell to see if her intentions towards us are good or bad tomorrow. Will that make the doggie feel better?" She mocks._

_Derek just growls at Tori._

I try to listen for more but I'm out of hearing range and it would appear strange if I walked back there. I look back over today and realize how good it went. They didn't figure out who I am and I have a real chance to be friends with them. But what if they find out who I really am?

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><p>AN: I hope you guys really like this chapter because it was so fun to write. I hope that I got Tori and Derek's attitude right. Tell me what oyu think in a review!<p>

-Darkest Original


	6. Bonding

AN: I'm so sorry this took so liong because I thought that i had posted this last week but just realized today that i was wrong. I also realized today that I haven't thanked everyone for their reviews so I'm going to do that now.

**SilentScreams119:** You're right about it being 2012 and i really didn't want to leave you all hanging but i had a little bit of a writers block. Thank gosh that is over now.

**Derek'sLover4ever:** Now I've updated! And thanks for your reviews. They all are vyou guys happy. ery nice and straight to the point, they motivate me to write faster to keep

**DazzieDizzy:** That happens to me a lot too! Thank you for telling me this in a review. And hopefully you've gotten used to the name.

**Violentious:** I'm glad that you think this is awesome.

**lovbooks22:** Thank you for the reviews.

**LyssaL97:** Thank you for the nice words and i know what you mean by there not being enough space! Thank you for the review.

I think I have everyone but if i missed you then I'm sorry and i appreciate your thoughts and words too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers.

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><p>Ch.6 – Bonding<p>

The next morning I'm up at sunrise. I grab one of the blood bags from the kitchen and aimlessly wander around. I need to go to class soon and am trying to keep my mind off seeing Tori, Simon and Derek again. What if they figured out who I was last night? Will they out me or still pretend? I can't afford to think these thoughts. They won't do me any good and will just make me excessively worry.

I look at the clock and my eyes widen at the time. I've been thinking here for almost an hour. Class will start in twenty minutes and I should be there a little early to talk to Tori.

I hurry out of the house and down the side walk. The nippy air finding its way through the worn parts of my favorite jacket and I hunch my shoulders to block the wind but it doesn't help much. Soon the university comes into view and walk faster to get to the promise of warmth.

Inside the building students are milling around or sitting at tables trying to get their homework done. I'm glad I don't need to worry about homework; all I need to worry about is getting Tori to help with the war and killing the Edison Group. Yup, not much to worry about at all.

Inside the classroom about half of the students are already seated, including Tori. I walk up behind her silently, hoping to scare her but knowing that due to being on the run, she will be watching everything. So I'm not surprised when she says, "Hey Andy. Nice try but better luck next time."

I smile and laugh gently, "Darn, I thought for sure that I'd be able to scare you."

Tori sighs sadly and I sit down next to her. Her eyes have a faraway look when she responds, "Nothing scares me much anymore."

I know that she's talking about the Edison Group and all the terror they caused us but I can't comfort her because she thinks that I'm normal.

"So what degree are you trying to get?" I ask, changing the subject.

"My masters in computer science and information technology," Tori says proudly.

"Wow, why'd you chose that?" I ask curiously.

Tori shrugs her shoulders while looking around quickly. If I had been a normal person then I wouldn't have even noticed Tori looking around subtly but I've been taught to notice things.

"I've always loved working with computers, especially making my own software." She jesters to her computer while speaking.

My brain must have shut off for a second because I say, "I never thought that you'd be into computers."

I inwardly cringe, knowing that I said something similar to this when we were on the run together.

"Yeah, you're not the first one to say that," Tori points out with a sad smile.

She must have shaken herself out of the nostalgia because she turns the attention on me, "What degree are you trying to get?"

The only reason why I'm in university is for me to make friends with Tori and to get her to help in the oncoming war. Part one of two is complete already and it is only my second day here. I'm not doing any classes that I would've wanted to take a couple years ago so I don't know how to answer Tori's question.

"My masters in Fine Arts," I say after some deliberation. I might as well tell her what degree I would've tried to get in university.

"Same with my brother," she tells me.

We stop talking during the lecture and take notes. Well Tori takes notes while I pretend to be taking notes. When the professor stops talking, we quietly pack our stuff into our bags and walk to the door together.

"I'll see you at lunch maybe or during the last lecture." I say before quickly heading off towards the washroom.

Inside the washroom I turn on the taps and cup my hands to splash my face with the cool water. Just talking to Tori and seeing the sadness in her eyes makes the guilt multiply. My thoughts are torn between just yelling out the truth for everyone to know and to just run to protect myself from what they might do if they find out. I know the latter part is selfish of me but it's true and the truth is always good right? But being truthful here won't be good, will it? My head is pounding from all of the questions and thoughts and I barely realize that I've dialed Drake until he picks up.

"Chloe? What's wrong?" He knows that I wouldn't call him during the middle of the day when I'm supposedly at school unless something really bad has happened.

"Tell me that I'm doing the right thing here." I blurt out.

"What right thing?' He asks confused.

"Not telling them who I am," I explain. "I mean they look so sad when I act like I do but it reminds them of the old me. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, it does but think about this Chloe. Say you were to tell them who you were and they accepted that fact and helped in the war. What do you think will happen to them if you die? They will have to mourn you again and will always wonder if maybe you will come back. It may be more complicated to keep the secret from them but it is the right decision. Trust me."

I take a deep breath and then let it out slowly, concentrating on what he just said. His words hold truth to them and I will always trust him because he's been there for me. "Okay, you're right. I'll call you if I have any more news," I hang up and just stand there for a few minutes, looking into the mirror in front of me.

I can easily see the real me beneath the changes but all that I can hope for is that Simon, Tori and Derek don't recognize me. Drake is right, I don't want to hurt them more especially since it seems like they are finally accepting my death.

I skip the rest of my morning classes but come back right before lunch ends. I needed to regain my resolve and now I'm confident that I will be able to fake being someone else.

I walk into advanced math and resist the urge to look over to where Derek is seated. The urge does not pass over time but instead grows stronger but I resist. And both too soon and not fast enough, class ends and everyone leaves.

From the corner of my eye I see Derek get out of his seat and wait thirty seconds before following him to our next class. When I get there I see that Simon is sitting with his girlfriend, Derek is on the left of Simon and Tori is on the left of Derek. Taking a deep breath I walk towards the gang with a big smile on my face.

"Hey," I say as I sit on Tori's left side.

"Hey," she says back. "I can't believe I wanted to take this class," she then mutters.

"Why did you then?" I ask confused, Tori never lets anyone tell her what to do.

"My other dad would've wanted me to take this class but he doesn't even know where I am."

"What do you mean 'other' dad?" I ask, putting air quotes around other.

Tori pauses, almost like she's gathering her thoughts to answer my question but I know that she's trying to come up with a lie that's close enough to the truth. Kit always said that if you had to lie then make it close enough to the truth so that you can remember it easily.

"My mother got together with Simon's dad, Kit, but when found out she was pregnant she left and then married my other dad," she pauses. "When I met Simon and Derek in high school I had a crush on Simon but I didn't know that he is my half-brother. My mother knew who Simon was though and tried to get me to stay away from Simon but I kept arguing with her until she blurted out the truth. Then I went over to Simon's house to ask Kit if he knew about me and he said yes."

A couple months later my mother died in a construction accident and when I went home to my other dad, he kicked me out because he blamed me for killing my mother. I went to live with Simon and Derek and that's how it's been ever since." She finishes quietly since the lecture has just started.

I don't know if I should keep talking because she doesn't want to listen to the lecture or be quiet because she actually wants to listen. I decide to keep quiet and pretend that I'm actually listening until Tori nudges my arm.

"What about your dad?" She asks just above a whisper. She had turned to ask the question so I can see that Derek is staring at both of us in his signature way with just the right amount of annoyance and disapproval with a hint of judging.

"He doesn't know who I am," I say truthfully. My dad thinks that I'm dead and not the person who I am now. "And my mother has been dead since I was a little girl, a drive by shooting accident."

Tori then does something that completely shocks me, she grabs a hold of my hand and squeezes it. This wouldn't be so shocking if I had known her for months like I did before and had gone through all the stuff with the Edison Group. But I never would've thought that Tori would be comforting someone who she had only met the day before. Maybe she is using me as a fill in Chloe even though I am Chloe but she doesn't know that. Uh this is so confusing trying to sort myself out. I really am Chloe but to her I'm Andy and I have no idea about who they really are or that they miss Chloe.

I glance towards Derek to see if he is as shocked as I am but his face doesn't reveal any emotion. It seems like he still doesn't trust me but for good intentions. I wouldn't trust me either if I was in his position.

The rest of the day is a blur of color and the only thing that really stood out was when I went for coffee with Simon, his girlfriend Lisa and Tori. Even though Lisa has similar hair color to what mine was before, she is a complete opposite. She is bubbly but not so much that she is dumb, just hyper and happy. She complimented Simon completely, where he was sad about something in the past, Lisa would cheer him up. When Lisa was talking nonstop Simon would calm her down.

Simon doesn't seem as suspicious of me as Derek but he is quite surprised that Tori has such a good friend after only a day. Maybe he believes that they could easily stop me from attacking them and he is just too full of self-confidence to be suspicious. But that wouldn't be the Simon I knew but then again, I only knew these people for a few short months.

Stop it Chloe, you might not have known them for long but you know them for who they really are in the toughest of situations, I think to myself. They were…are my friends and I am going to get to know them better, it's the least I can do after making them believe that I'm dead.

I ask Tori if she wanted to go and see a movie and she agrees. She doesn't even crack any jokes about us being a couple which surprises me. We decide to go after we finish having coffee with Simon and Lisa and I can't help having the feeling something will happen but will be a good bonding experience.

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><p>AN: Sorry it took so long to update, I was working on writing more chatpers and having more ideas for stories. I hope you all like this chapter even though it has a lot of thinking in it. I tried to have more dislogue but that didn't work out too well.<p>

I was also waiting for more reviews to come in. I only got 3 reviews for the last chapter and i'm used to having at least 5.

I hope everyone had a good holiday and I will probably update sometime next week. If anyone has any ideas for something that should happen in this story, please do tell me. I know what i want from this story but it seems too short in my mind and would like to make it longer by adding some of your guys' ideas.

-Darkest Original


	7. Fight

Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers

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><p>Ch.7 –Fight<p>

Tori and I stumbled out of the theatre in hysterics. We had chosen to see a comedy, each with different reasons. Me? I didn't want to watch the movie about sparkly vampires to remind me of what I am but I don't know Tori's reason for choosing a comedy. Maybe she just likes to see comedies.

"And when he," I can barely gasp out but I finish my thought my making the motion of falling and then landing hard on the ground with my hands.

"And the bird," she tries to continue on but ends up laughing again like I am.

I take a deep breath and hold it to gain my composure but with one look at Tori laughing until she is crying, I double over in laughter again.

"Come on," I gasp out and drag her away from the doorway where I line was starting to form from where we were holding it up. Tori soon understands why I did that and walks with me back in the direction of our houses.

Every once in a while there will be a random giggle as one of us remembers a part that was particularly funny but the walk is silent for a while.

Footsteps echo behind us and I can tell that I'm the only one who heard them since Tori doesn't tense up like I do.

Tori must see me tense up out of the corner of her eye because she turns to face me, "Andy? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." I say distractedly. I focus on the footsteps and judge the person behind us to be a male because of the weight behind the footsteps.

Walking faster my sharp eyes take in any available weapons around that I can use. I'm supposed to be just human so if I have to fight then I want a weapon on me.

Tori follows after me quickly and just as I spot an old baseball bat she grabs my arm and stops me in my tracks. "I've seen that look before so don't even try lying to me." She says, her eyes both determined and worried.

"We have to get back or else we'll be late," I say while moving me eyebrows, lips and eyes in the direction of the man so that she would understand. My face must look ridiculous but she looks in the direction of the man and her eyes widen in understanding.

I start walking again and Tori starts up right after me and quickly catches up to me. We walk at a brisk pace but the man catches up to us even faster. I hear the click of a switch blade coming out and I spin around to see that the man is going to stab Tori in the back. Before I can even think about it, I kick his hand and he drops the blade in surprise.

I hop back and sink into a defensive position. I made be pretending to be a human but that doesn't mean that I can't know fighting skills.

The guy turns towards me and snarls out," Just give me your cash and we'll be fine."

I raise my eyebrows at him. Does he really think that I'm going to just doo as he says because he sounds scary? "You're gonna have to do better than that, I've seen way scarier things than you buddy."

His arm moves behind his back and he obviously grabs something from his back pocket. He flips open a second knife and grabs hold of the handle with his thumb and forefinger, like he's getting ready to throw it.

I can tell that Tori really wants to use her nock back spell because of the tightness around her mouth and her clenched hands. This would be so much easier if she knew who I was or even that I am a supernatural, and then she could use her powers to get us out of this. But that won't work and judging by the muscles on this guy's arms and determined face, I should take this guy on. I don't want Tori to get hurt because I'd feel guilty and Derek would snap at me. I will also be able to take this guy on easily due to my extensive training.

Keeping an eye on the knife I take a few quick steps forward and then give him a swift kick in the ribs. He grunts and brings the hand that is still holding the other knife down to hold onto his now broken ribs. I back up again and he stands up slowly, trying to seem menacing even though it doesn't work.

As fast as I dare to go I clap both of my hands on to his ears with some of my supernatural strength. The man stumbles back disorientated and I use this to my advantage by using my right hand to punch him in with enough strength to break his jaw. Quickly I punch him right under the jaw with my left hand, making his head snap backwards. And with one final move I kick him in the center of his chest forcing him to stumble back before tripping over his own feet and whacking his head on the sidewalk.

I take a cautious sniff of the air but I don't smell any fresh blood in the air but that doesn't mean that it won't soon leak out. I grab Tori's hand and pull her in the other direction.

"How did you do that?" She asks in an awed voice while we are half jogging down the sidewalk.

"I took lessons a couple years ago because I wanted to be able to protect myself." I explain almost truthfully.

I look back in the direction we came from. I can't see the man getting up yet but I don't want to chance it. "Let's go a little faster; I don't want to be anywhere near him when he wakes up."

"I agree," Tori says.

Not as soon as I would've wanted we come up to Tori's house. With my hearing I can hear Simon telling Kit about his classes with an excited voice. I stop and struggle with how to address this situation. On one hand I want to go in and talk to everyone but on the other I want to leave for the night because I'm not sure if I should go inside.

Luckily I don't need to worry because Tori speaks up, "Why don't you stay the night? I think we should tell Kit together and I know that if I was you I'd be a little freaked, even if I wouldn't show it or admit it. So don't tell anyone I said that."

I give a slight chuckle, "I promise I won't and thank you for letting me stay here."

She waves my thanks off before dragging me into the house. "Guys! Andy and I have something to tell you!" she shouts for appearances.

The living room has two couches facing each other so that they can discuss things easier but looks like there's an equal angle to see the TV screen to other people. Tori, Simon, and Derek's graduation certificates are hung up in frames on the walls amidst some of Simon's drawings.

Chairs scraped and footsteps sounded out as the guys made their way to the living room where Tori and I were waiting. Derek walks in first and scans the room automatically before going to lean against one of the walls in the house. Simon follows after but instead of scanning the room, he just waves a little at me before going to sit down on the couch. Kit comes in and I blink in shock, I know that three years isn't that much but Kit looks exactly as he did three years ago. His wise eyes scrutinize me and I'm aware of the fact that I must have been a topic of conversation once or twice.

"Hello, my name is Kit Bane and you've already met my children." Kit shakes my offered hand before sitting down beside Simon on the couch.

The feeling of all eyes being on me worries me that I'm going to stutter when speaking but I ignore it. I will not stutter I've worked too hard to lose now. "I'm Adriana Katerina and it's nice to meet you."

Tori pulls me to the other couch before sitting down herself and I plop down after her. I must've zoned out because suddenly Tori nudges me. "Hmm?" I ask.

Tori rolls her eyes at me, "I was just telling them how badass you were. How long have you been taking lesson anyway?"

"About three or four years," I answer.

"Kit, can Andy stay for the night?" Tori asks in a little girl voice that I used to use against my dad when I wanted something.

"Of course but aren't your parents home?" Kit asks curiously.

I shuffle a little in my seat to make it look like I'm uncomfortable with the subject. "My mom has been dead for a long time and my dad doesn't know that I exist. Right now I'm staying with an old friend but she is gone for the week."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Kit's eyes narrow in thought before speaking again, "Do you need anything from your house?"

"Just some sleep clothes," I say.

"That's no problem; you can borrow some of my clothes." Tori says nonchalantly.

In unison everyone's eyes snap towards Tori. I'm happy that she thinks of me so much as a friend that she'd lend me her clothes even though I've only known her for almost two days. Simon and Kit are both shocked at her generosity and I can't help but smile a little bit. But Derek is looking back and forth between Tori and I suspiciously.

"And I need my contact solution so I'll go get that right now." I get up out of my chair and is about to take a step when Kit speaks again.

"Well, Simon can drive you."

"Um, sure," I nod my head.

"Let's get going then," Simon gets up off the coach and heads towards the door and grabs the keys off a hook along the way.

I tune into the conversation with my sensitive hearing while walking to the car and get some sentences.

"_What's wrong with you?" Derek asks._

"_Nothing, can't I do something nice for a friend?" Tori snaps at him._

"_Yeah but not a friend that you've known for barely two days," Derek's voice is calm but with some of his irritation sneaking in._

"_I know enough about her to trust her," she says._

"_Yeah? Then who is her old friend, hmm? Are they any danger to us?" Derek says in a low and deadly voice._

"_Shut up Derek, we all know that you're just being more overprotective because you take the blame for not protecting Chloe." A sharp intake of breath is heard three different times from all of the people in the house._

I can barely hear Kit by the time Simon has driven us onto the next block. _"Tori," he says in a shocked and admonishing voice. _

I turn to look at Simon because I can feel his eyes on me. "Yes?"

His previous emotionless face transforms into one of excitement, "You have got to teach me some moves some time."

"Alright but no cheating," I snicker.

"What?" Simon says with wide eyes. He must've taken my last words as me knowing about his powers.

"I mean you can't use any paint to blind me," I explain.

"Did Tori tell you about my artistic side?" Simon acts all snobbish for a moment before laughing along with me.

I control my laughter enough to say, "No, I saw your name on the painting in our living room. They're all really good. And Tori also told me that you're majoring in Fine Arts like me."

"What are you going to use with it?" Simon asks completely interested.

I look down at my hands and twiddle my thumbs for a moment to gather some courage. "I want to write screenplay."

He doesn't have time to reply because since he was already parked in front of my house, I went inside. Soon I come out with an overnight bag and try to ignore the sadness in Simon's eyes. The entire ride back to his house is quiet and slightly awkward but soon I can escape the confines of the car only to be under Derek's ever watchful gaze.

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><p>AN: Thank you to eveyone who reviewed for the last chapter. They all made me smile. I still can't believe that i forgot to post the 6th chapter, I'm so dumb sometimes.<p>

I thought that i should post this today since tomorrow i have an overnight basketball tournament and won't be at my computer for at least two days. Wish me luck!

I really liked this chapter and the next couple have also beeen fun to write, i hope you all like them just as much.


	8. Some Truth

AN: thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I appreciate them a lot.

Some good new is that my basketball team won the tournament last weekend and our game this week against a neighbouring town. I know this has not much to do with Darkest Powers or Fanfiction but i thoguth I'd tell you, if you want to know.

I'm writing this one-shot for this other category but i don't know if i should post it before this story is done or after? Tell me in a review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers.

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><p>Ch.8 – Some Truth<p>

I wake up with a start, a cold sweat covering my body and my breaths shallow and uneven. I sit up slowly and bring one hand up to rub at my forehead, trying to remember the nightmare I just had. But nothing comes to mind after a few minutes.

Slowly and quietly, ever mindful of the light sleeping werewolf, I get up from my bed on the couch and head towards the kitchen. My rats' nest of hair keeps falling into my face as I walk so I pull it back quickly into a half-assed bun before reaching to grab an apple. Unfortunately my hand never gets to the apple because someone grabs my wrist in a firm grip. Of course I knew all along that someone was in the kitchen, I was able to hear their quiet breathes and heartbeat.

My eyes slowly look up to the person and they narrow in confusion when I see Kit. Why would Kit be in the kitchen at three in the morning? Was he waiting for me to wake up? But that doesn't make much sense. I open my mouth to ask my questions but Kit's other hand darts up and makes the shushing sign. I nod my head in acknowledgement before flicking my eyes up to the roof, saying with my eyes that I know that Derek can hear us. Kit's eyes widen for a second before nodding his head. He then pulls on my arm gently and pulls me in the direction of the back yard.

Three years ago I would've allowed myself to be directed to wherever we would be going but I'm different now. I pull Kit's hand off my wrist and then drop it before walking past him. I walk into the forest and don't stop until I know that Derek won't be able to hear a word being said before turning around to face Kit.

"Yes?" I cross my arms and shift my weight to my right foot.

"What are you doing here Adriana?" Kit asks his eyes clouded in confusion.

I'm sort of confused. Does he mean, what am I doing in his house as a human or what am I doing here as a supernatural? Of course Kit must have figured out by now that I am a supernatural, he's spent a lot of time on the run from them and living around them that he must have picked up some tips to spot them. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, that must have confused you." I nod at his slight pause quickly. "I meant, what is a supernatural doing here, at my house?"

I don't let my eyes widen in shock but allow my mind to reel for a few moments before asking a questions. "How did you figure it out?"

Kit's hand raises and he points at my eyes which are still brown. I had thankfully not taken them out for fear that someone would see my eyes before I put them in. "Your eyes have a larger amount of awareness in them than regular humans do. And because of the way you automatically scan the entire room before picking a spot to sit where you can see all entrances and exits."

This time I do reel back in shock a bit. I didn't think that I was that obvious.

Kit must have sensed my worry or seen it in my eyes, "Oh, don't worry. I've just learned to notice this over the years but I think that Derek might think that you are not human, he has always seemed to notice things."

He lets his eyes scan my body from head to toe, but not in a leery way, more of an inquisitive way. "What type of supernatural are you? I know you aren't a witch because I would be able to sense it but then what?"

I open my mouth and almost let out a lie before chocking it down. I once trusted Kit and from what I can tell, he is still trustworthy so I think I should tell him the truth. But not the whole truth. "I am a vampire."

Kit freezes in his spot and his eyes grow wide. I would've thought that he is scared still except for the slight frown growing on his face. "A very important vampire, perhaps?"

I nod my head once firmly.

He sighs and closes his eyes, a sudden weariness overcoming him. "Are you here to ask Tori to join the war?"

I uncross my arms quickly and take a few steps forward so that there is only about a two foot space between us. "How do you know about that?" I hiss angrily. Only some people are supposed to know of this because we are trying to have the advantage of surprise.

Kit laughs lightly in this tense situation and my eyes narrow at the sound. "All of the more important people who are against the Edison Group now that you are building an army."

My lips are pressed into a firm line as I think this over. I guess this seems right and I shouldn't have snapped at Kit like that now that I think of it but I don't want the Edison Group to have any idea of what is to come.

"Alright, let's go back to the house," Kit raises his eyebrows at me in confusion. "It's time to tell Derek, Simon and Tori why I am really here and who I am."

As I walk into the house behind kit, I make sure to slam the door loudly. Hoping that it will wake up all three of the other occupants but knowing that it will probably only wake one.

True to my thoughts, Derek comes creeping silently down the stairs not even a minute later. His eyes frantic as he scans the room before landing on Kit and I, then he slowly stalks towards Kit. "What are you both doing up?"

"Andy has something to tell all of us, so could you go and wake up Tori and Simon?" Kit nods his heads towards the stairs before leading me into the living room.

He sits on the couch that I didn't sleep on while I neatly fold the blankets and pill them on one side of the couch. I might as well clean up now so that they don't need to later when I'm not here.

Quick but light footsteps make their way downstairs but I don't turn around until I hear them stop in the doorway. I lock eyes with Tori first and try not to notice the suspicion in her eyes but I do. I don't even look at Simon, fearing the same thing.

I take a deep breath, "I'm sure Derek has already told you that I want to speak with you all so could you all sit down?"

They all give me confused looks but follow through with my orders, even Derek sits down which is surprising.

For the last couple of minutes I've been debating whether to tell them just what I told Kit or the entire truth. They both have their merits and disadvantages though and Drake's words keep popping up in my mind. I trust him and know that he knows best, even when it seems like he's going crazy.

"My name is not just Adriana Katerina, it is really Adrianna Katerina Nyssa and I'm, well," I give a breathless laugh, "the queen of the vampire world."

Tori and Simon start laughing simultaneously, probably thinking that I'm yanking there chain. Derek just looks from my emotionless face to Kit, who is nodding in agreement to what I said, and back again.

After a few moments, Tori and Simon stop laughing when we don't join in. "You're serious?" Tori asks in a shocked voice.

I narrow my eyes a fraction. "I'm confused, why do you think I'd lie to you? I know that you're a witch, Simon and Kit are sorcerers and Derek is a werewolf. Do I just not fit the part? Should I go back to my house, put in my vampire teeth and wear all black clothes?" I put some sarcasm in my voice near the end, mostly to cover the anger in it but also because I want to lighten the situation again.

"Nah, you don't need to do that," Simon jokes along. "Just maybe get a tattoo that says 'vampire queen' on your forehead."

I give a small smile before letting it drop. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm here. That's because I want to ask you, Tori," I look seriously at her, "to join my war against the Edison Group."

"Wait, wait." Derek interrupts. "I thought we killed all of the Edison Group workers."

He looks towards Kit for answer and Kit sighs heavily, "That's not exactly true. Some members of the Edison Group that got away have been regrouping and are trying to take control again. But first they would go after anyone who got in their way the first time, namely us."

Tori leans back, clearly mulling over this new information. I can easily find another witch since we have an entire list of possible people wanting to help but for some reason I want Tori by my side. Either because it would be nice to know that I have someone I can count on or because I know she wants to take out the Edison Group as badly, or more, than me.

"Tori, you don't have to do this," I say softly. "I-"

Tori interrupts me, "I'll help you, but not for your war. Because I want them out of my life for good, I don't want any more threats to my life."

I try to hide my smile but it doesn't really work because a side of my mouth twitches upwards. "Well then, I'll call you when I'd like you to meet me and the rest of the army but for now my job is done and I can go."

I stand to leave and Simon rises with me. I raise an eyebrow in question and he opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. I wait patiently for him to speak. "I want to help with the war too."

My eyes widen fractionally as I disgust his question. No, absolutely not. It's hard enough letting Tori come with me because her life will be on the line even though I know she can take care of herself. But to have Simon come with? And with his weaker powers? I wouldn't have the guts to let him come with, knowing that he is more likely to get hurt than Tori.

"No, absolutely not." I voice my thoughts and am going to tell them my reasoning when Kit clears his throat.

"No offense Andy but you're going to need all the help you can get." Kit must've sensed I was going to interrupt because he continues. "If you're worried that we are going to get hurt, you don't need to. We can take care of ourselves. We have a few tricks up our sleeves."

I have a feeling that I know exactly what that trick is, or more importantly _who_. Unfortunately there argument is very solid and I can't refuse without them questioning my reasoning.

"We'll go whether you agree for us to go or not. Just so you know," Derek informs me with a scowl as he stands to his feet and crosses his arms. I bet he thinks that that makes him more intimidating but since I've gotten used to him, it doesn't really bother me anymore. Especially since I can look after myself now.

"Alright," I nod my head slowly. "I'll need your permanent number Kit so I can reach you when I need you and then I can go."

Simon hisses a triumphant, "Yes," under his breath, forgetting that I can hear him. I smile slightly at his attitude.

I begin to walk towards the door but a voice in my head stops me. Thankfully it is my own so I don't need to worry about going crazy on top of everything else.

_Now's your chance to find out their opinions on what happened to them._

_I can't do that now. Not after just dropping a huge bomb on them._

_Maybe, but this might be the last time where you have a chance to get their thought on your leaving to. They won't tone it down because they know the real you is there either._

_Stupid voice._ I start ignoring it but the voice did have a point. This might be my only chance to really talk to everyone with them toning down how they really felt about my leaving.

I mentally sigh and turn around again. "Now I have a question for all of you. I'm sorry if this is too personal but how did you get on the Edison Group's bad side?"


	9. Story Time

AN: Sorry for the really long delay. But I hope this chapter makes up for it. I hope to post the next chapter by next wenesday since I will be gone for a while but i'm not sure.

Thanks for all of the reviews on the last chapter, they were really nice.

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers.

Ch. 9 – Story Time

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><p><strong>Derek POV<strong>

I watch Andy carefully, not completely trusting her. I mean, we just met her a few days ago and she's already sprung this whole war thing on us. But I guess it makes sense to tell the person who you want to be in the war as soon as possible.

I look around quickly to see who is going to start only to find them all looking expectantly at me. I roll my eyes at myself for thinking that Tori would tell our story even though she doesn't know half of it.

"Well, about 5 years ago-"

Andy holds up a hand and speaks up, "I would appreciate it if you don't lie to me or leave anything out because I can tell."

I scowl at her for a few moments. "As I was saying," I say pointedly. "About four years ago Simon and I were at another school and some bullies were picking on Simon. I got there and got really mad and tossed one kid against a stone wall, ultimately breaking his back and paralyzing him forever. After the police stopped coming by the house and everything calmed down more, we were going to move to another city because the Edison Group was looking for us.

"The day that we were going to leave, Simon and I came home to find an empty house but no signs of a struggle. It seemed that Kit had just walked out. So we stayed home, thinking he would be back but some officers came by and after a few days and a couple of escape tries, we were put into Lyle house. DO you know about Lyle House?" I make sure. Not wanting to speak more than necessary.

She nods her head, dark brown hair moving with the motion.

"Well, there we met Liz Delaney, Tori Enright, Rae Rogers, Peter Myers, and Chloe Saunders." Andy leans forward to rest her elbows on her knees, keeping eye contact with me at all times. I don't give in to her stare down, I won't. "Long story short is that Liz was killed because her powers of being a half demon were 'uncontrollable' to the people who ran the house. I figured out that Chloe was a necromancer, and better yet, one who didn't have a clue about the supernatural. I had it all set up so that Simon would take Chloe and Rae with him since she was a fire half demon and leave me behind but then I started my change.

"Chloe found me and told me that Simon had gone ahead with Rae and was going to meet up with us at some abandoned warehouses. After a bit of a confrontation with Dr. Gill we got away and met up with Simon and Rae in the warehouse after being spotted by some Lyle house workers and being shot at. Chloe was grazed by the tranquilizer darts that were shot at us.

"We found Simon, Rae but were corned in a warehouse by Dr. Davidoff and his people and Simon and I stayed behind to distract them. We told the girls to wait for us in another warehouse but to leave after a while and they did because it took a long time for us to get rid of Dr. Davidoff and his people.

"From what Tori and Chloe had told me, Rae had convinced Chloe to go to her Aunt to help with her arm and to tell her about the Edison Group. Only for Chloe to find out that her aunt was a part of the Edison Group and had called Dr. Davidoff while sticking her up." I see a slight flicker of pain and betrayal in Andy's eyes before her emotions completely shut off.

**Chloe POV**

I feel the old feeling of pain and betrayal at finding out my aunt was part of the organization that experimented on me but I shove it behind a wall. I can't show any emotions now, not when Derek is watching me so closely and will be able to figure out who I am if I'm not careful.

The gang switches back and forth from telling their sides of the story. Derek tells me what he and Simon did during the time when I was captured with Tori and Rae. Then Tori tells me about how 'Chloe' had agreed to look for the boys because Simon had supposedly lost his diabetes kit. Of course I remember all of this because I was there but having it spoken aloud brings back both the memories and feelings. Such as the constant fear of being captured every time I closed my eyes or even worse, summoning a dead body again during my sleep.

"We did get away from Dr. Davidoff and then found the boys only to figure out that Simon didn't need his insulin because he had his regular one with him. Chloe and I were slightly upset that we were tricked but happy that we had escaped and Derek and Simon brought us to the house were they had been staying.

Unfortunately Simon and I didn't know until later that night that there was a dead body in the abandoned house which Chloe had accidently raised in her sleep. Derek calmed her down and we got out before the cops could come and check out what all the noise was. I know that Derek chewed Chloe out good for not speaking up about her fears of sleeping so close to a dead body," Tori shoots Derek a dirty look but Derek doesn't react to it.

Tori sighs before looking back to me, "Anyway, after a few incidents we got on a bus that would take us to a friend of Derek and Simon's, Andrew Carson, but one morning Chloe and Derek were missing. Now we know that Derek started feeling his change coming on so he got off the bus but not before telling Chloe where he was going. Of course, Chloe being herself, went with him but made sure to tell me where they were going first. Unfortunately I didn't remember what she said so Simon and I freaked out when we noticed they were gone but decided to go to Andrew's to wait for them.

Derek speaks up, "Once Chloe and I got off the bus, we went into the woods and I tried to change but didn't. Later that day we hitch-hiked in the older guy's truck and he found us. He was going to turn us over to the cops but we got away, only to run into a couple of rogue werewolves, Ramon and Liam. They said that they wanted to take me to The Pack in return for The Pack to let go of some grudge against Ramon and Liam. Chloe and I managed to get away from them but not before we had to fight and injure one of them.

"We got to Andrew's house only to find it empty but we went to the pool house and found Tori and Simon there. Andrew's house looked like it had been left in a rush, much like our old house so we decided to lay low and see if anyone would come back. But later that night I took Chloe out to help her with her powers while Tori and Simon were sleeping. While Chloe brought back a dead bird, some Edison Group men shot at us with real guns. I told Chloe to go to the main road but did she listen? No." Derek laughs bitterly.

"After another fight with them which resulted in us finding Andrew, we left again. Andrew drove us to another safe house where we were going to be trained by other supernaturals but we were betrayed. After Chloe accidently showed off her powers a little too much, her mentor got jealous and teamed up with another mentor, Russell. Russell called Liam and Ramon and was going to pay them to either kill me or hand me over to the pack. Unfortunately Chloe was with me when Liam and Ramon showed up and to make matters worse, I was mid-change. Chloe left to distract them while I finished my change and almost got herself injured. But at the end of the night, I killed Liam, Ramon left to hand himself over to the pack and we figured out that Russell and Margaret were going to kill or turn us in."

Kit interrupts by clearing his throat, "Um, maybe you can skip over to the part where you guys tried to escape the Edison Group and met up with me?"

Simon nods sympathetically, "Of course, dad."

"After a few weeks or being watched, Tori, Chloe and I were captured by Margaret and Russell and taken to one of the Edison Groups compounds. I have a feeling that Chloe did something or made a deal with someone because the entire compound started to collapse in on itself. Derek found Chloe first and knocked Tori's mother unconscious since Tori's mother was going to kill Chloe's aunt. Meanwhile, Tori and I were getting info on the other subjects and deleting all of their files.

"We met up with Chloe and Derek and were going to escape out the back when Lauren went back to distract the Edison Group workers. Chloe tried to get back to her but Derek held her back and then Kit showed up. Dr. Davidoff then came out and started negotiating things with Kit to no advance but then the roof caved in. After a tense situation, Chloe raised Diane's ghost and had her kill Dr. Davidoff so that we could get away." Simon nods towards Derek and Derek begins to tell the next part. The one part that I am really waiting for.

"We got to our temporary hotel and Chloe and I talked for a couple minutes but I got her angry." I have to hold back my snort at that. I mean, of course I was angry at him, who wouldn't be? "When I came into the lobby, she was on the phone and very pale. I didn't see her until the next day and she didn't look any better. That entire week she was constantly looking over her shoulder and trying to tell us in a subtle way how much we meant to her. We never figured it out until the one night I heard her leave her room and I followed her. I confronted her about her leaving and she didn't deny it at all, she actually told me to go back to her room to read the letter that she had left for all of us. I thought that she would wait until I got back from her room to try to escape but by the time I was downstairs again, she was a good five or ten minutes ahead of me. The last time I saw her was of a quick glimpse of her through the back window on a bus."

I watch as Tori's eyes fill to the brim with tears and she takes in a shaky breath, trying to keep her emotions at bay. Simon takes in a shuddering breath as Kit finishes my story. "We tried to follow her but couldn't figure out where she would've gone. The only place that we could think of was her father's but when we called him, he said that she wasn't there. It was only a few weeks later that we got a call from a hotel manager in New York City telling us about a fire. We didn't understand why he would call us until he told us that Chloe was staying in the hotel for the night and that she had died in the fire. There wasn't even a body amongst the wreckage because the fire had burned everything down so quickly."

Tori closes her eyes and clenches her fists to hold back the tears and it works because when she reopens her eyes, there is not a tear in sight. Her voice is pure rage but is it at me? "If she had told us why she was leaving, we could've helped her in some way. Even if that meant letting her go. But we will never truly know why she left and that is something that I will regret."

My mind is spinning with all this new information and I can barely keep my black expression. I never really believed that the gang cared this much about me or that they would've let me go if I had told them. I should've told them what I was doing, and then at least I could've spoken to them and given them some closure. But then again, an enemy could've easily found out who they were and used them against me. But that is how every in life really is. If you care for people, they can be used against you, no matter whom you are or of what status you have.

My shoulders feel weighted down with all this guilt and regret and I try to push it away to deal with later but it doesn't work. The guilt is at the front of my mind and won't let me forget it, not even when I start describing the job of a director in my head.

I feel a change in the air around me and I flicker my eyes towards the right side. Liz stands next to me with her hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised. "Do you see now?" she says mockingly.

I nod my head slightly so as not to alert Derek to another presence in the room. My eyes close to hold back the burning tears but I jump slightly in my seat when Liz speaks again. "I'll meet you in the tunnels in a few days."

I open my eyes but Liz is already gone and I'm left to tell my old friends that I have to leave again.


	10. Strategies

AN: I know this is a short chapter but i'm leaving on vacation tomorrow and won't be able to update for almost two weeks so i thought that a short chapter is better than none.

Thanks to all that reviewed the last chapters and i hope you like this chapter just as well. It seems like our story is coming to an end soon and it will only be maybe 6 or 8 chapters left, maybe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers.

Ch. 10 – Strategies

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><p>I put my last article of clothing in my suitcase and quickly zip it up. I take it downstairs and out to the waiting car, trying not to look in the direction of the gang's house.<p>

Slowly, I climb into the back of the car and it speeds off towards the outskirts of the city. I don't watch the city landscape as the gigantic towers are replaced with modern houses and then down to industries. Instead I have my eyes closed, my head titled back onto the head rest, trying to remember how my life has changed so much.

There are probably only two really life changing days in my nineteen years amongst the others. The day where I saw my first ghost and flipped out and the day where Drake called me to tell me that I was going to die soon. It's bitterly amusing to know that the two life changing days in my life had something to do with my powers.

It was only three days ago that the gang told me their sides of our story and I'm still feeling the guilt. But I don't think that it will ever completely go away. I know I should've told them who I really am right when they finished their story but the knowledge that they could get hurt for knowing me stops me immediately.

Three days ago the gang agreed to meet me in the tunnels under New York State. It would give them enough time to drop out of school and too gather all the weapons they might need and to get in any more practice that they think they need. I also called the other members of the war that I had already spoken to and they have agreed to meet with me.

The car soon pulls up next to an old abandoned house on the side of the road. All around the house is dense forest that is teaming with life. I blur towards the house, thankful for the opportunity to stretch my legs out. I quickly open the door, shut it behind me and head straight to the right of the house, ignoring the obvious signs of someone living here. I crouch before fraying rug and push it back away from the hidden trap door.

Not even five minutes later, I am in the tunnels the run under the entire state of New York and blurring towards the meeting point where I told everyone else to be. There in the large bubble shaped dome with four different tunnels leading to it, are the other members of the war.

Shelly is a short older woman but the strongest shaman in the world right now. Her graying black hair is pulled into a tight bun and her beady black eyes are focused on everyone around her.

The werewolf pack that I found in northern New York isn't here because their pack is just too big in this room along with the other supernaturals. So I sent one of my most fearless Generals to fly up to the wolf pack a few days ago to go over attack plans with them and to alter them if need be. Thankfully there are no changes to be made to the plan.

Will is the necromancer that I called to help out. He was the second strongest necromancer when I was human-ish but now he is the strongest and is willing to help out my cause. He is standing near Shelly and is trying to charm her into going for dinner but is failing majorly. Will is built like a runner and is leaner than the warlock, Jarrod, who is built more like a wrestler.

Jarrod doesn't speak much at all and is very intimidating with his cruel smirk and dead brown eyes. But from what I hear from my friends in the community, he is very loyal once he has made friends.

The family of four sisters in the corner separating themselves from the group are the fire, tempestras, telekinetic and teleportation demons. They usually aren't seen together much so I had to look for them across Asia and Africa. They look almost identical in looks with the same wavy dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes that don't give away any type of emotions.

The skin-walker, Adam is typing away on his phone and chuckling under his breath at something he read. Most likely he is talking to his wife or his humours twin brother who is always trying to crack jokes, but failing miserably every time. But that makes it funny.

Bram, the vision demon is showing off his powers to Kaley, the ferratus demon and vice-versa. Kaley closes her eyes and focuses and suddenly her skin becomes iron. I am always so amazed by this power and the fact that changed your skin into iron doesn't hurt or give any after-effects.

And finally, Kit, Tori, Simon and Derek are leaning against the wall closest to my right, waiting patiently for me to start.

I take a deep breath and clap my hands twice loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. I smile sweetly, "Let's get started, shall we?"

Everyone disperses through different tunnels when we finish speaking about strategies. Strategies that don't need to be changed because everyone agrees with them. We all agreed that we will meet in the forests surrounding the new Edison Group base camp in two days time, fully equipped with guns and other weapons that we might need.

I stand by the entrance to the tunnel that I came through, waiting with growing irritation as everyone dawdles to leave. Don't they know that I want to go too? And that I have to make sure that they leave before leaving myself?

I roll my eyes and let my head smack against the concrete behind me with a good _thunk_. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Kit gesture to the rest of the gang to go ahead without him and my curiosity increases when he heads towards me. He stands beside me quietly, obviously waiting for everyone to leave like I am before speaking.

After everyone is gone and out of hearing range, Kit doesn't turn as he speaks. "I can't help but be curious about what you did before this. It's apparent that you have been in a situation similar to this before but I haven't heard of you." He pauses before adding, "Except for you crowning."

I keep my face blank but instead I'm spinning. He knows too much and is much to obserate than anyone gives him credit. He probably has a guess at who I really am but it can't be close to who I reall am, can it?

"Yes, I fought the Edison Group when I was a teenager with some good friends," I reply shortly.

Kit's expression doesn't change one bit even with my enhanced sight. "And how did that work out?"

_I can't tell him, I can't tell him. _I chant silently in my head before a thought pops up. _Why would it matter if he knows? He won't tell anyone if I ask him not too and I can make a friendship with him so I have a reason to see the gang._

But they'll get hurt, I think again. It seems like I'm always fighting myself on whether or not to tell them. I have to find a good answer, I must. And suddenly, like a light being switched on, I have a better idea. I'll jump into one decision head first and try not to regret it later.

"We defeated them with no casualties on our side but later that night I got a phone call that changed my life. I was told that I was going to die in several days and if I wanted to live, then I was to leave my friends and travel to New York City." I tell him.

Kit's eyes widen even more and his jaw drops open. His eyes scan me up and down, most likely looking for any similarities to the person I was three years ago.

"Chloe?" He whispers in a choked voice.

I barely nod my head in response.

His surprised and happy face morphs to one of irritation and anger. "Do you realize how hard we tried to look for you and how much your fake death hurt everyone?" I nod quickly and open my mouth to speak but he cuts me off. "And you've known Tori, Simon and Derek for a few days before you told them you were a vampire, you could've told them who you really were any time. You-"

"I know how my death hurt you all but I wasn't allowed to tell you all what was happening. And when I met Tori, Simon and Derek again I was so conflicted about telling them or not but I decided not to because they might be hurt because of them knowing me." I speak over him.

We are quiet for a few moments while we both think about what the other said.

"Where's Aunt Lauren?" I ask quietly.

Kit gives me a sympathetic look. "When you died she moved to Europe, she thought that the farther away she was from America, the less memories she would have of how she failed her family. We haven't heard from her since."

I nod my head in acknowledgement while I'm thinking about why I haven't thought to find anything about her. I must've assumed that she was safe with the gang and didn't really think to check up specifically on her.

"Look, I'm sorry that I caused you all so much grief and I really wish I could take it back but it can't be changed. But I don't want Tori, Simon and Derek to know my real identity just yet because they might be distracted during the fight."

Kit stays silent for a few moments before sighing and looking into my eyes. "Alright but then I want you to tell them as soon as possible after the fight."

I smile at him, thankful, "Deal."


	11. Thirst

**AN: I'm so sorry that this took so long but hopefully this chapter will make up for it! I had a wonderful vacation but it sucks being back at school, it truely does. **

_**This story is nearing it's end already and i can't believe it. I only have made five at the most chapters left.**_

_After this story is done, I will either post a new story that i've been working on lately or the sequel to Eternally Powerful. To all Eternally Powerful fans, there will be a sequel. I just need to start writing it. But i haven't given up on it._

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers.

I hope you all like this chapter and will leave a review. All of the reviews and alerts/favorites that i get always make me smile. Ask my friends, they are getting tired of me talking about them because i talk about them so much.

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><p>Ch. 11 – Thirst<p>

I sigh and twist a large portion of my hair between my fingers. Then I smooth it out before going back to twisting it, again and again. Then my foot starts tapping out a beat from a song that I had just heard in passing. _Tap tap, tap tap tap, tap tap._ I always start to get jittery before looking at pictures from my old life, even though it shouldn't fray my nerves that much.

You would've thought that gathering all the vampires in the community would have set the butterflies in my stomach fluttering about but not even a tingle happened. For surely I would've been nervous speaking out and trying to advice all of the vampires but that didn't bother me either. It almost seemed instinctual, like I always knew what to say but just needed the chance.

The vampires didn't really go against me all that much, there were just mostly questions about escape routes and an estimated casualty loss. I believe that they went pretty easy on me because it was my first time being leader of a whole species and because they all want to destroy the Edison Group. But I have a feeling that that won't last very long.

The cover is a deep black, like the night sky at its darkest hour, and has my initials written in a beautiful script. The book is at least two inches thick and is always locked up in the safe with any other valuables.

I place the book on the table in front of me and slowly open it. The first page is a rare picture of me, my mom and my dad all together. The emotion in the picture still causes tears to brim in my eyes so I quickly flip through the pictures.

There are pictures of me and my friends all throughout middle school and the few years of high school that I was with them. Then there is a cut out of a newspaper article of my 'accident' at school. I know that I shouldn't have kept it but I want to remember how everything started. It may be bad for my mental health to keep dredging up the pain and humiliation from that time but I still keep it.

The next couple pages aren't filled with photos but pages out of a journal that I kept with my while in Lyle house and on the run. It was the only thing that I could really confide in and I'm still surprised that Derek didn't notice it. I read over a few passages from the days of being with Andrew and trying to make contact with Kit.

I can still remember trying to act like nothing was wrong around Andrew and trying to act like a naïve necromancer. I think it worked out well until Margaret got freaked out when I almost raised an entire cemetery of dead people. Maybe she thought that by handing us in to the Edison Group that the threat that we cause would be eliminated. I know that I wouldn't like someone who would be a threat to how I live or anyone I know. But I like to think that I wouldn't hand them over to people who I know are dangerous.

With a sigh, I snap the book closed and rise from my seat. I quickly walk over to the safe, open it, put the book inside it and then lock it up once more. I only hope that I will come out of this entire thing alive so that I can tell the gang who I am. But if I do die, I have a letter written to the entire group about why I didn't tell them who I was and where all of the photos of my new life are. I even included the safe's number so that they could take things out of there if they so wish.

I hope down the stairs leading out of my house and start a slow jog to the airport. All of the other vampires will leave after me because I am to make sure that everyone is in the right meeting spot first.

The plane ride passes slowly and uneventful. Just more of the same news again and again. The Edison Group is growing restless with the fact that they can't seem to find any other supernaturals and my new allies are getting closer to the meeting point every hour. Everyone is at the meeting point now except for the sisters from across Africa and Asia because their flights have taken longer than anyone else's.

My flight finally lands just lands at a small airstrip in a small town. The town is about 20 miles from the Edison Group base but this is the closer place with an airport that I could find. This town is where we will meet later tonight for the meeting.

As I step off the tarmac, I turn on my phone to see that I have three messages and five missed phone calls. I just start reading the first message when my phone starts to ring again. The caller ID reads 'Drake' so I answer it with a roll of my eyes.

"Yes?"

"Chloe," he sounds relieved to have gotten a hold of me. "I have to tell you something."

I wait for him to go on but he doesn't; now I'm getting a little annoyed at him. He knew that I was going to be on the plane for almost an hour and he doesn't need to announce that he has something to say.

"Well, go on." My voice must betray my irritation and short temper because Drake starts falling over his words.

"Well – well, I was just informed that one the vampires have agreed to make a deal with St. Cloud. I've already started scanning all of the vampires in the community's phone records and couldn't link any of them to talking with a strange number. But I haven't gone through the many vampires who were out of the community during the last few months, so that probably will be where the problem lies." His voice had gained confidence by the end of his speech.

My eyes widen at his words. I covered all of the bases except this one; never in my mind did I think that someone would betray me and tray to make a deal with St, Cloud. Even thought I should've known better.

I take in a quick shuddering breath, "Alright, keep me posted on your progress."

I snap the phone shut and clench my eyes tightly closed. _Come on Chloe, get your head together. Go step by step, _I think to myself.

I open my eyes and walk purposely towards the other side of town where everyone is waiting to meet. They have been waiting too long for me to come anyway and there is no point in making them wait any longer.

My feet make no sound as they hit the pavement but my ears pick up everything around me. Food is being made, someone on their computer, a conversation between two little girls and far in the distance there are soft noises coming from the allies.

I'm so focused on just walking forward and on the noise around me that I don't smell the blood until it's too late. My eyes snap open to see a little girl of maybe nine or ten years old on the ground with scratched hands from catching her fall. I watch mesmerized as a crystalline drop of blood wells p from one of the cuts and then spills over onto the other skin.

The smell hits me next and it feels like I just ran into a brick wall at full speed. My throat starts burning and my mind starts closing off as my instincts start to kick in. My hands clench, trying to force myself to resist the blood and I stagger back, trying to get away.

Usually blood doesn't have this affect on vampires because the blood we drink from blood bags is cold and old. Not fresh and warm like the blood that is dripping right in front of me. Vampires have a term for when we come across fresh blood and want to give in to our basic nature, 'The Hunger.' The Hunger is basically our monsters wanting to come out and wreck havoc all around but fortunately I haven't had to deal with it until now. Drake has said that it is always better to have another vampire with you that has deal with the Hunger because then they can talk you down and get you refocused. Unfortunately, the only other vampires in this town are an hour away.

I stop breathing and clench my eyes so tight that I'm seriously thinking that my eyes are going to pop out. I'm trying to distract myself enough to get my body under my control again so that I can walk away but nothing seems to be working.

I bring my hands up to my mouth and clamp them over my lips so that I don't show anyone my fangs that have grown. My hands are still there when I hear heavy footsteps that soon hit the pavement faster and come closer.

"Andy," a deep, familiar voice says my name. It echoes in my head and I try to focus on it but it keeps darting out of my reach.

Large, warm hands rest on my shoulders and gently shake me. This seems to do the trick because my eyes fly open and immediately lock onto Derek's bright green ones.

My eyes dart back and forth between his and the girl's bleeding hand, pleading with him to understand what is wrong. His face twists in confusion before looking at the girl. I can see the exact moment when he understands the problem because his eyes light up and he quickly starts wheeling me away into the nearest alley.

"Just a little further," he says as he leads me farther away from the entrance to the alley and out of sight.

As soon as I thought we were far enough, I unlocked my knees and collapsed onto the ground and since Derek had his hands on my waist, he went down with me. My hands leave my mouth and I take a tentative breath in, once I know that there is no blood in the air around me, I start hyperventilating.

My gasps soon turn to sobs and my body shakes violently. I can't believe that I was going to drain that little girl. If Derek hadn't been there in time then she would've died at my hands. She has an entire life a head of her and I almost took it away from her in one act of greed. I hate myself right now, I could've done something more. Couldn't I?

"Hey," Derek says in a gentle voice and starts to rub up and down my arms. "It's over and you held yourself together amazingly. Calm down."

I let myself relax against his body for a few moments and just forget about everything. I'm not longer Andy, hiding my identity from him, Simon and Tori, and I'm not about to lead a war against the Edison Group. It feels amazing to just let myself relax.

When I'm composed, I lean away from him and make out a slightly shaky, "Thanks, you have no idea what that meant to me."

He nods his head and then starts walking back out of the alley. I follow behind him at a slower pace, not wanting to be hit with the Hunger too soon. Thankfully the smell is gone and I catch up to Derek quickly.

We don't talk as we head towards the meeting place, at all. When we get there, everyone is there waiting for us and I don't pause before launching into the plan once again.

"Alright," I say. "I want the vampires to storm the place first but quietly. I'd like you to take out all Edison Group workers that you come across but if you find a department head, take them as prisoners."

The vampires nod their heads in acknowledgement and I turn towards Tori, the warlock, shaman, skin walker and the demi-demons. "I'd like you guys to follow immediately after the vampires and once you find the prisoners, help them out of the building and into safety. Then you can go back in and help the werewolves take all of the experiment documentation and other documents."

The witch, warlock, shaman, skin walker, demi-demons and werewolf pack nod their heads too. I let out a little sigh and think for a moment. I have an idea but I don't think that it will go down all that well. I turn towards the gang, "I'd like you guys to stay outside and help keep things under control but I know that you will go against your orders."

They look at their feet in embarrassment. "So instead, you will each go will your individual species and help them out to the best of your abilities."

"What will you do," Shelly, the shaman, speaks up.

I smile at her. "I'll help wherever I can and will be switching back and forth between groups. Does this sound good?"

Everyone nods their heads quickly before turning back around and heading into town again. They all know to meet back here at five this afternoon, and I trust that they will be back.


	12. Never Wanted to Hurt You

**AN: Thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter and read it. I decided to post this chapter a little earlier because i finished it earlier than expected. **

**Hopefully you'll all like this chapter and _tell me how you think i did._**

**Disclaimer: i don't own Darkest Powers.**

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><p>Ch.12 – Never Wanted to Hurt You<p>

I creep quietly behind the first group, not making a sound on the crunchy forest floor. I'm decked out in black to blend in to the darkness when it falls and so that the Edison Group workers can't really distinguish one person from another. My breath is even and steady and I'm going to keep it that way, I don't want to start hyperventilating over anything tonight. No, I need to be calm.

The next few minutes pass quickly in the same routine. The first couple vampires listen for any sound on the other side of the door then open it quickly and then scan the area around them for cameras. If there are cameras then they quickly cut them off before we can be spotted and recognized as intruders.

With my advanced hearing I can hear some of the vampires behind me going off to different directions and searching the either rooms. There is the odd 'oomph' from an Edison Group department head or a quick crack from an Edison Group worker being killed.

There is the familiar sound of computer keyboards being hacked so that we can find all important files, get two copies of them and then erase the hard drives completely. Then the slight wine of a filing cabinet being opened and looked through.

These two processes are happening at the same time that the final group of people are finding where the hostages are and then setting them free. The entire operation doesn't take more than a few minutes before all of the hostages and all of the documents are in our hands but they feel like a lifetime. Each second ticks by like an hour and each minute a day.

My ears pick up a stuttering breath from the corridor to my right and I cock my head to the right, listening. The breathing isn't steady and the smell that is coming from down that way reeks of fear. Whoever that is down there is hiding from our raid but knows that they won't be able to stay hidden for long, especially with the werewolves and vampires.

I start walking down the corridor in silence. My feet landing on my heel first and then the balls of my feet to make sure that I have balance the entire time. My eyes scope the hallway again and again making sure that nothing is out of the ordinary and that no cameras are watching my every move.

The breathing grows louder as I get farther down the hall and I begin to move to the right side of the hallway. There is only one door on in this hallway so it is quite obvious where the chicken is hiding out. Does this idiot not have enough brain cells to find a better place to hide?

I stand directly in front of the door, raise my right foot to my chest and kick out with all of my strength, sending the door flying into the wall opposite of it. A small "eep" of surprise is emitted from the body huddled up on the floor directly next to the door. From the nonexistent curves, I can easily see that this man is not a woman and by the clothes, he must be a researcher or doctor instead of a guard or a coffee-getter. My hand flashes out and grips him by the collar, tugging him out of the door while ignoring his pleas for freedom and safety.

"Shut up," I hiss in my menacing voice, making sure to shake him once for emphasis.

I take him just to the entrance of the building that we used and then tossed him towards Will who is waiting on standby for any other hostages. Walking back inside the building, I decide to take the route towards the hospital. Surely there will be doctors or lap technicians there?

Nodding at the other allies along the way, I'm starting to not be as tense as I was this morning. The mission is almost over and done with and so far no one on my side has been injured. I'm about to turn down the hall towards the records room instead of the hospital because I might as well see if anyone needs help over there when I hear hushed whispers.

My eyes furrow as I try to figure out what is being said to no use. I'm too far away.

Walking slowly down the corridor towards the voices, I try to figure out who I speaking but to no use.

"Are you sure they'll believe it?" A gravelly and unfamiliar voice asks.

A second person laughs quietly. Is it just me or is that laugh familiar? ""Look at it this way, you'll be free to make more experiments under a different name and I'll be the victim." The voice pauses. "And don't forget about our deal, I told you we were coming here so you had time to hide things and get my money. But if you don't give me my money then I'll have to use my connections to give you the most horrible death they can think of."

I can't take not knowing who is betraying me and the allies so I carefully peak around the corner and spot a mop of sandy brown hair. It can't be him, it shouldn't be. Not when he is my mentor. My face drops in shock and before I can think it through, I'm running full speed towards Drake.

When I'm within five feet of him I can see the other person with him and I audibly gasp. Both sets of eyes flash towards me, Drake's with regret and horror while St. Cloud's fill with twisted pleasure.

I tackle Drake like a champion football player and we both go down hard. I sit up and straddle him to have a better aim. Then I pull back my right fist and repeatedly punch him in the face, making sure to her at least three different bones crack under the pressure. Blood squirts out from his wounds and splatters on my face but doesn't hinder my quest for even a second.

I start speaking between punches, hoping for him to feel the depth of his betrayal. "You bastard! How could you betray me like this? Especially when you were going to let the one person who made everyone's lives a living nightmare go."

I hear soft footsteps start heading my way and I look up in the direction that I came from. There, froze in shock, is Tori. "Andy, what's going on?"

Then it seems that she spots St. Cloud because her face hardens and she goes to release a spell. But St. Cloud used the small amount of time where Tori was distracted to get closer to her.

"Tori, loo-" I'm unable to finish the sentence though because St. Cloud has blocked her spell and dashed around her. He wraps his left arm around her throat before pointing his right index finger towards her head.

With one final punch to Drake's head, he falls unconscious and I quickly get to my feet. St. Cloud says, "Nu uh ah," in a taunting tone while slowly walking towards the doors that lead to the hospital. "You don't want to try to rush me. We both know that I can throw out a _killer_ spell before you can kill me."

I stay completely still, not wanting to give him any reason to hurt Tori anymore than she is. My eyes don't move from his for a second but I can see Tori trying to communicate with me with her hands out of the corner of my eye.

St. Cloud opens the swinging door to the hospital with his foot but keeps backing away from me slowly and it isn't until he's out of sight do I start moving. I bolt to the door but make sure to look through the little window to see if St. Cloud and Tori and still within seeing distance. Unfortunately they aren't but I can see another door just swinging closed. I pull the door towards me roughly and jog quickly after the pair, not caring that I have no back up and am going in practically blind.

After opening the second door I stop short. The three of us are in what appears to be the staff room but all of the furniture is pushed to the sides, allowing more moving room. St. Cloud now has a gun pressed up against Tori's temple and my hands feel slick with sweat. My heart is pounding trouble time in my ears but I keep my calm façade on. I don't want St. Cloud to know exactly how much this situation is freaking me out.

But it seems that he is either a mind reader of just a good guesser because he says, "Oh, look at the mighty queen now. Backed up in a corner with little to no options on how to proceed." He makes a small cooing sound that grates on my nerves.

I snarl at him but stay silent.

His blue eyes have a crazy twinkle in them that I can't really ignore. "You probably wish you had more power now, don't ya? It would make this easier for you because you'd have more options. But nope." Then the jerk actually starts giggling, and girly giggles at that.

I fight to keep from rolling my eyes at him so instead I look for any safe exit for Tori and myself. The only door is the one behind me so St. Cloud obviously either knew he wouldn't make it out of this or is so cocky to think that he can easily kill me. There are no windows so that doesn't help at all and all electronics are taken out. The only things left in here are some chairs, a coffee table and a lone couch.

St. Cloud's eyes suddenly light up. "And you probably want more power so that you can save your long-lost friend. It must be very hard to see her in a position like this where you know that there is very little chance of both of you coming out of this alive."

I grimace when Tori turns her confused face up towards St. Cloud and he reads it immediately. "Oh, so you don't know. That's even more marvellous."

I bite my bottom lip nervously, wondering where this will go next.

"She doesn't need to know," I spit out, trying to diffuse the situation.

He nods his head enthusiastically. "Oh, yes she does." He pauses for a minute to contemplate something. "Tell her who you really are and I'll let her go."

I scoff loudly at that. _"Really?"_

He smiles in what is probably supposed to be an encouraging way but just makes him seem even more out of his head. "Yes, really. The pressure will be off of your shoulders and if you do die then your friend will know that you now really are dead. She's just leverage in this fight between you and me and if she's dead or not, she won't be in the fight."

I can't help but think about what he said especially if he promises Tori's safety. The only reason that I followed him was to make sure that Tori stayed safe and so that I'd be able to save her.

I take a deep breath. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you when I first saw you Tori or even before that. And I know that I really don't deserve your forgiveness even though I really do want it."

The only way for Tori to really believe me is for her to see my true identity. Or to ask her a question that no one but 'me' me would know. Or maybe both. So I slowly start taking out my contacts, letting my ice blue eyes show for the first time in her presence in almost three years.

Tori's eyebrows furrow in suspicion but she doesn't say anything. At least not yet.

I don't move my eyes from her for a second as I ask. "Have you seen Liz lately Tori? Or locked anyone else up in basements lately?"

Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open in shock. St. Cloud pushes her towards me and I grab her by the upper arm, turning us both around so that we are facing the door. Tori tries to struggle against me but I use my super natural strength to hold her still before pushing her towards the door. "Go, now. Get away from here."

I barely have the words out before an electric shock surges through my veins. I utter a small moan before collapsing to my knees. I'm up on my feet before St. Cloud can notice and charge at him. I hit him square in the chest, causing him to fly back against the far wall.

"Don't try to sneak attack me." I growl out at him.

He sits up and tries to throw another spell at me only for me to dodge it quickly. I'm almost right in front of him when he throws another spell but this time I'm too close to him and can't get away fast enough. The spell hits me in the stomach and goes right through, causing blood to immediately flow.

I put a hand against my stomach, gasping at the pain from the pressure my hands puts on it. I don't look down for a second; I just keep my eyes on St. Cloud. With an angry snarl, I lunge towards him again and manage to keep out of reach of his hands. I punch him in the face repeatedly before taking a few hits at his stomach.

I blur to the other side of the room right as he takes his first real swing at me and completely misses. He stumbles, a little off balance and I use that to my advantage and push him roughly against the nearest wall. One hand is wrapped around his throat while the other is pinning his shoulders against the wall. His face turns an unnatural shade of purple as he gasps for air and claws at my hands and face. His finger nails scratch at my face and I feel a small shock from him trying to use his powers but since he is losing oxygen, his powers aren't as potent.

As his eyes close and he slumps against my hold, I let my grip loosen slightly. The next thing I know is that there is a loud '_pop_' and a burning feeling right beneath my right lung. I stumble back, gasping for air. But that hurts even more because my chest is moving with the bullet still in my body. A burning fire is spreading from my right side to my left and up to my lungs.

I trip over my own feet and crash down to the floor, the crash jarring my body and sending more waves of pain throughout my body. St. Cloud walks threatening towards where my body lays, his gun hanging loosely in his hands.

I laugh without humor, ignoring the pain that it causes. "You really need a gun to kill me? What type of message does that send?"

He reacts to my words but not at all how I thought he would. He raises the gun and pulls the trigger, sending another bullet flying through the air. I can practically see the bullet in slow motion as it flies towards me and then embeds itself in my right shoulder, slamming my body back onto the floor.

"I'm ending this," he says before lowering the gun a couple inches only to shoot me in the upper thigh. I can feel my clothes soaking up the blood that I'm lying in and just the mental image causes me to lightly shudder in disgust.

My breathing is short and very shallow because I can't seem to get enough air into my lungs. There is no place on my body that doesn't hurt in one way or the other but I don't focus on the wave of pain rushing through my body at every second. I focus on how my heartbeat is slowing down in my ears and how my vision is darkening around the edges.

But I can't just give up like this. I refuse to let myself be taken down by a human made object. My dad and aunt wouldn't have wanted me to just give up because I know that I'm nearing the end. That's not how things are done in the Saunders family. Derek would be yelling at me to get my ass in gear if he was here now and so would Tori. Then only one who would give me encouraging words would be Simon but sometimes they don't help, sometimes they just lull you into giving in.

With one heave of my stomach muscles I'm sitting up, my hair dripping from the blood. I feel wetness under my eyes and leaking out of my ears so I use separate hands to dap at the liquid. When I pull my and away my mouth drops open in silent shock at the red liquid. I knew I was bad off but didn't think it would be this bad.

St. Cloud is turned away from me probably because he doesn't want to see the death of someone that he made happen. _Bastard_. With my vampire speed I get to my feet and am behind him before he can notice that anything's changed.

He must have felt my presence behind him because he quickly turns around while trying to raise the gun. I quickly hit his wrist bone with some of my strength, causing it to shatter on impact. He drops the gun with a cry of agony and pulls his wrist tight to his chest. I use this as my opening and grip his face tightly between my hands. With a sharp twist St. Cloud's neck snaps and his terror filled eyes drain of emotion and life.

The fight drains out of me right then too and I collapse like a marionette doll whose strings have been cut. The blood that is coming out of my bullet wounds no longer gushes but steadily leaks and it's the same with my eyes and ears. I don't even try to wipe the blood away, knowing it is no use.

Just as I close my eyes to have some piece before drifting off into the darkness do I hear the pounding of runners on linoleum and the frantic calls of familiar voices. The door to the staff room is opened and I hear three different gasps once the people take in what has happened. Then a high pitched shrieking is heard and it pierces my eardrums to the point of pain.

I moan in agony and that seems to catch the people's attention. Their scents waft towards me as they run to kneel down next to me. Tori has her hands pressed tightly against my shoulder wound, trying to staunch the blood to no use. Derek is kneeling on my left side with his larger hands on the gaping hole in my stomach. I can feel his rough hands on the edge of the hole through the blood and Simon is ripping a piece of fabric off of his shirt before tying it like a tourniquet above the bullet wound in my thigh.

"Andy, what happened?" Derek stresses.

I snort in an un-ladylike manner. "Isn't it obvious?" I ask in a hoarse voice, "I fought against St. Cloud and sort of won."

I start laughing softly only to start gurgling on something in my throat. The liquid is warm but thick enough that it is stopping my air. I cough violently and it splatters out of my mouth and down my chin. I got a taste of the substance as it ran over my tongue and I really hope that I don't keep coughing up more blood.

"Why isn't she healing?" Derek growls at the two witches.

Tori doesn't move from my side for a second so it is Simon who answers Derek, "St. Cloud used a type of spell that doesn't only injure but also keeps the person from healing very quickly."

The darkness is covering most of my vision now and I close my eyes so I don't need to focus on what little I can see. Suddenly I'm lightly shook and Tori is yelling in my ears, "Chloe, wake up, please, you can't leave us again."

I can hear both Derek and Simon gasp before Derek snaps at Tori, "What do you mean, Tori?"

Tori huffs, exasperated. "I mean just that, Andy is Chloe in disguise."

Derek now starts yelling at me and I smile at the familiarity. "Chloe, you have to stay awake so we can get you help so that you can explain this all to us. And you will explain this if it's the last thing I do."

I have been ignoring the pain but it comes back with a fury. I weakly scream before opening my eyes to lock with Derek's. Hopefully he'll understand that I don't want to leave but I can't stop it. Hopefully.

"It hurts here and I don't want that. It doesn't hurt there though, I know that." I pause for a few seconds to gain my breath and on a shuddering breath, I say, "I'm sorry; I never wanted to hurt you guys."

Derek's head leans so close to mine that I can feel his hair brushing against my forehead. My eyes are hypnotized by his shocking green eyes and I try to understand the emotion swirling around within them. His face turns desperate and his voice is ragged. "You can't hurt us like that again," he pauses and his voice drops to below a whisper, something that only he and I can hear. "You can't leave me again."

My eyes scrunch as tears fill them but I don't look away from him. "I'm so sorry." I whisper on my last breath and then close my eyes, welcoming the looming darkness.


	13. After

**AN: It has come to my attention that I haven't been too clear about the vampires in this story. Thanks to anyone who pointed this out because I really want everyone to understand this.**

**The vampires in this story do have a 'vampire face' like the ones on The Vampire Diaries but it only comes out during The Hunger. My vampires have heart beats but they are much slower than a regular human. The heart beat carries the blood around the vampires' system, regenerating the muscles and keeping up its strength. But they need oxygen because the blood is letting all of the other organs still do their job. In all, vampires still have human traits besides the fact that they will live forever and that they have to drink blood to live. Make sense?**

_**Thanks to everyone who reviewed all of these chapters, I really loved writing this story.**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers**

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><p>Ch. 13 – After<p>

The first thing that I become completely aware of is a burning sensation in my stomach. With a low moan, I move my hand over to my stomach to see if pressure would help anything. It doesn't but the fact that there is no longer a gaping hole in my stomach shocks me so much that I bolt upright.

That is a mistake that I regret immediately as the burning sensation strengthens significantly. I hiss loudly through clenched teeth. My eyes are wide open but I only see black space around me except for a small circle of brightness right in front of me. My hands let go of the thin blanket and for the first time I look at my surroundings.

But I don't get too far into my search because the first thing I see is Simon sitting in a chair beside my bed. I try to scamper back into my bed to get away from him because I know that he will inevitably have questions, some of which that I don't want to answer.

Simon looks up when he hears the bed shifting and raises his hands in an 'I surrender' motion. I halt in my movements but don't relax again. Holding my breath, I wait for the inevitably question and don't wait long.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner Chloe?" He asks in a disappointed tone.

As I take in a breath to answer him, I smell fresh blood and can feel my vampire face start to show. I clamp down on the urges before they can completely show and turn towards his side of the bed where on the bedside table is a large water bottle full of blood.

I lunge for it without a second thought and my main focus turns towards unscrewing the cap and then gulping down the bottle. On a panting breath I say, "How long have I been out?"

He answers immediately, "Almost five days." He pauses so that the information can sink in before continuing, "You haven't answered my first question."

"I didn't want you guys to get hurt." I say after a beat of silence.

"What do you mean," he says, confused at my words.

I close my eyes and let my head softly fall back against the bed, "If I had told you guys who I was in the first place, then you would have been understandably mad but would have wanted to join the war. If I had died, like I almost did, then you would have to mourn again. Unfortunately you guys almost had to do that again.

"But if I lived through the war, like I have, then my other enemies would find out about your relationship with me and use you against me. You would always be in danger, so I decided to keep it a secret and then after the war I would just hide away again and you wouldn't know any different about 'Chloe' being alive." I stop and hold my breath waiting for him to explode at me.

It never comes through and I open my eyes again to see that my eye sight is almost normal again. When Simon speaks again, his voice is still soft and low. "There's more to it than that, isn't there?" Simon accuses me.

I nod my head in acknowledgement and laugh softly on an exhale, "I thought that everyone would hate me for leaving without much of an explanation," I pause and look right at him as I say, "And I don't want you guys to think that I'm a blood thirsty monster."

"You could never be a monster in our eyes," A deep, rough voice asks in the silence after my words.

With a gasp, I turn my head all the way to the left to see where the voice came from. Resting against the far wall of my bland hospital room is Derek, his arms crossed over his black t-shirt covered chest. Tori is sitting against the wall with her knees brought up to her chin, her eyes wide in shock and wonder. Next to her is Kit who is looking at me appalled and I narrow my eyes in confusion. Why would they be shocked? Did they not expect me to live? The thought is like a knife to the stomach and I can't help but flinch. I move my eyes over them and one thing that I notice is that the door is nowhere near them; it's on Simon's side of the room.

As the pieces click in my head, my eyes widen and I feel like putting my head in my hands in embarrassment. I should've known that there was more than one person in the room, I should've.

I shake my head back and forth as my eyes fill with tears, "How can you say that when you personally saw what happens when I'm near spilt blood?" I shout at Derek.

"Because you fought it off," He growls back at me.

I snort rather loudly and roll my eyes and before I even register it, Derek has my face between his hands and is making me look into his eyes.

"You listen to me closely," his eyes flash with emotions as he pauses to emphasize his seriousness. "No _monster_ would fight off their basic urges or would they do their damn best to keep their friends safe and out of harm's way."

You are just a little different than we used to know you but you are still the same Chloe. You still love movies and can talk for hours about them right?" He pauses for me to nod my head slowly. "And you will do anything to keep your friends safe which has just been confirmed."

I sigh and nod my head at his logic. Derek was always the logical one who got everyone to see his way and sometimes that sucked but other times, it really did help. I just need to figure out which one is the one happening now. He pulls back slowly and then takes a step back to stand a few feet away from me. Suddenly the distance between us seems extraordinary and much too painful for just being friends with each other.

The silence descends upon us as we all are lost in our own heads. I know that they will want to know what exactly happened and I can't keep it from them. They'll have to ask for it first though.

And speak of the devil and he shall appear that quote has never been more accurate because Kit raises his head to lock eyes with me. "Can you tell us exactly what happened and when it started? I have a theory that it either started the night we defeated the Edison Group or slightly after it but I can't figure out which."

"It was the night that we defeated the Dr. Davidoff." I say and everyone's' eyebrows rise slightly in disbelief.

"It truly was, after I spoke with Derek I went inside the hotel only to have a phone call. Drake, my second in command, was on the other line said that I would die in a week if I didn't get to New York City before then. He told me that I would become a vampire and that I couldn't tell my friends anything."

Tori comes over to my bed and sits in the chair on the other side of Simon. "That's why you looked so spooked the next morning, I just assumed it was because you acknowledged that you killed Davidoff.

I shake my head at that, "Nope, it wasn't that. And over the next few days I was making plans on how to get to New York City and subtly telling each of you what you meant to me." I smile softly and meet Derek's eyes. "Of course _someone_ thought that something was up and tried to figure out what I was doing but didn't until the night that I left."

I turn to Kit now, "Derek tried to get me to stay that night while he went to read the letter that I had left but I quickly ran away and stayed down wind so that Derek couldn't as easily follow my scent. I got to New York City later and when I met Drake he turned me into a vampire."

I tell them about the last three years but make sure to gloss over some of the more disturbing facts like the fact that I can raise a whole lot more dead people than before. They seem to take all of the information in pretty well but that would also be because they are all used to having a ton of information dumped on them at once. Derek hasn't spoken since he got in my face but hasn't moved his eyes from mine either.

Tori speaks up, "So, I guess you're going back home to your community then."

"That's the plan," I say.

"Or you could come and live with us again."

If I was previously moving then you could tell that I've frozen in spot but since I'm sitting down still you can't really tell the difference. I never thought that the gang would voluntarily want me to come back and stay with them. I was always under the impression that they would hate me forever when I told them who I really was and that they wouldn't want anything to do with me at all.

I blink before saying, "Um… are you sure?"

Simon pipes up, "What do you mean 'are you sure'?"

I roll my eyes at him, "Exactly that. Are you guys sure that you want a liar living with you and someone you might be killed for just because you are associated with them?"

"Of course," Simon says happily, "Thos are the best people to hang out with." He then pokes me gently in the arm and I reach out to shove his shoulder playfully.

Laughing I say, "Okay, I'll come live with you guys again but I have to keep in contact with my lieutenant."

My mood sours as I think of Drake and his deception to both me and my cause. I haven't had much time to digest the fact that he has betrayed me but I have accepted it rather quickly. I know that there is nothing that I can do to change the fact and all that I can do is do make sure that he pays for what he has done.

"What happened to Drake?" I ask to everyone in the room.

Derek uncrosses his arms, "After you were taken from the building to be transferred to this hospital, the other vampires took Drake back to your community to be questioned about why you knocked him out. He made many wild comments about you while you were out but no one believed him. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to tell the truth, we got Jarrod to spell him to tell the truth. Drake did spill the truth and your council of vampires is waiting for word from you on what to do with him."

It's quite once again as I sit in thought. Finally when I come to my conclusion a twisted smile graces my face, "Pass me a phone, would you?"

* * *

><p><strong>Three Days Later<strong>

I'm sitting in Kit's safe house in Florida enjoying the décor and waiting for them to come home from shopping. Of course they don't know that I'm here, they think that I won't be here for another week but I wanted to surprise them.

The very first day that I woke up in the hospital I was told that when I was battling St. Cloud, the spell he used on me slowed down my healing to that of a human and that they had to surgically remove the bullets before I bled out. I almost did bleed out on that floor but help did come fast enough to save my life. The doctors took out the bullets from my shoulder, stomach and thigh but only after dealing with the huge hole that was my stomach. I still don't know how they do it and do not want to find out, ever.

That same day, I called the vampire council and we all worked out a punishment for Drake. He is now locked up in our most advanced prison system and it seemed a little too much at first but once the vampire council explained to me that all betrayers are imprisoned then I felt better.

Immediately after that phone call I called up Quinn, my third in command, who I asked if he wanted to be the leader of the community. I explained to him that I would still do my job but just have any documents sent to me personally. Quinn would just keep the peace and order in the community while I wasn't there.

I know that Quinn will do a good job at this because he has never lead me a stray with anything. The only reason that he was third in command was because I trusted Drake more than Quinn.

Then I convinced the gang to go to a new safe house because I would meet up with them. It was quite obvious that they didn't want to go after just finding out who I am but they did as I asked without much complaint. These last two days have been of packing more of my things and shipping them here and just finalizing the plans for the community and where I will pick up any important documents. We don't want them to get taken by the wrong people, now do we?

When everyone walks in the door, just saying that they are surprised would be an understatement. They will happy and very relieved so it is quite obvious that they thought that they'd never see me again. But I couldn't do that to them again.

As everyone goes in their separate ways I call out to Derek, "You wanna take a walk with me?"

"Sure," he says and we leave the house to walk around the block.

As we reach half-way into our walk I stop suddenly and Derek has to take several steps back since he kept walking while I stopped. "Yes?" He says expectantly.

"You know, we never did talk about our kiss the night that I killed Davidoff or where it would lead us."

Derek looks slightly confused at the topic but doesn't voice it. "Well of course not, when I did talk to you we fought and then you got that phone call."

I roll my eyes at him, "Well duh."

His eyes narrow at me in irritation, "Then why did you bring it up?"

I smile up at him and gather the quickly fading courage, "Because I really liked it and want to do it again."

He stands there shocked, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. I take this as the perfect opportunity and pull his lips down to meet mine. I kiss him firmly but his lips don't respond under mine for the longest moment in my life and just as I'm about to pull away, his hands move from lying lips at his sides. One wraps around m back to pull me closer to him and the other brushes my fair away from my face and then cups my cheek gently.

When he pulls away, he leans his forehead against mine and we are both breathing heavily. "Does that mean that you want to go out with me for supper on Saturday night?"

I laugh heartily and nod my head in response. "Of course." Then he leans down to capture my lips with his once again and everything finally seems to be going good.

Even though there may be many bumps in the road before you get to where you want to be, that's life. Life throws changes at you suddenly and without so much of a 'good luck' but you living through it makes this existence more exciting. I lost hope sometimes during these last few years but there was always the hope that I would see the gang again and that they'd accept me for who I am.

I never imagined that it would end like this but looking back at my life; this ending seems to be the best that I can think of.

**AN: The end! I hope you all liked this chapter and the ending! Tell me your thoughts please in a review!**


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